Regulated Gas Goes Up 6.4 Percent on Thursday, Adding 1.62 Euros to a Typical Family's Monthly Bill

Households still buying natural gas at the regulated price will pay an average of 6.4 percent more from Thursday, 1 October. The Entidade Reguladora dos Serviços Energéticos (ERSE, the Energy Services Regulatory Authority) confirmed the figure on Wednesday, the eve of the new "gas year", which runs from 1 October to 30 September.

The tariffs were approved on 1 June. What changes now is that they reach the bills of about 431,000 customers still supplied by one of the country's 11 comercializadores de último recurso (suppliers of last resort), the companies that sell gas at the price ERSE sets.

What it means on a typical bill

ERSE gives two reference households for mainland Portugal, with taxes and fees included:

• A couple without children (first consumption band, 1,610 kWh a year): the average monthly bill rises by 0.91 euros, to 17.38 euros.
• A couple with two children (second band, 3,407 kWh a year): the bill rises by 1.62 euros, to 32.53 euros a month.

The 6.4 percent applies to low-pressure connections using up to 10,000 cubic metres a year, which in practice means homes and small businesses. It is measured against the prices in force in September.

Gas is the second regulated energy price to move on the same date. The regulated electricity tariff also rises 2.7 percent on 1 October, so a household on both regulated tariffs sees two increases in the same month.

Customers on the free market

Most gas customers are not on the regulated tariff. ERSE estimates about 1.14 million are supplied on the liberalised market for the 2026 to 2027 gas year. Their prices are set by each supplier and depend on the contract.

One part of every bill, regulated or not, is set by ERSE: the tarifas de Acesso às Redes (network access tariffs), which pay for the pipes. For homes and small businesses these rise by 0.098 euro cents per kilowatt-hour from October. For industrial and larger commercial users the change runs from a fall of 0.001 cents to a rise of 0.026 cents per kWh, depending on pressure level.

Whether a free-market customer pays more from October therefore depends on two things: the access tariff increase and how much the supplier pays for gas on international markets, plus its margin. ERSE's price simulator on its website compares electricity and gas offers for homes and small businesses.

Switching back to the regulated price

Since 7 September 2022, households and small businesses using no more than 10,000 cubic metres a year can choose to sign a contract with the supplier of last resort for their area, even if they had left it for the free market. ERSE publishes a step-by-step explanation of how to make that switch on its consumer pages. Whether it pays depends on the offer a customer already has, which is what the simulator is for.

Social tariff

Customers who qualify for the tarifa social (social tariff) get a 31.2 percent discount on the regulated sale prices, whether they are on the regulated market or the free market. Who qualifies is explained in our guide to getting the social energy tariff in Portugal.

Bottled gas (butane and propane) is sold outside these tariffs, so none of this changes its price. Low-income households using bottles have a separate support, the 25 euro bottled-gas discount, which the government extended to the end of December.

All the bill figures above are ERSE's for mainland Portugal.