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Setting Up Electricity in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

How to put electricity in your name, choose contracted power and a tariff, compare suppliers, read your bill, and get the social tariff.

The Portugal Brief 13 min read

Setting Up Electricity in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You rent or own a home in mainland Portugal and need an electricity contract in your own name.
  • You are already connected and want to check your contracted power, tariff, or bill, or switch supplier.
  • Your household is on a low income and you want to know whether the social tariff applies.

Not for you if: you want the overview of electricity, gas, water, and internet together. Read Setting Up Utilities in Portugal instead. If you do not yet have a tax number, read Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal first.

Updated October 2026. A law published on 29 June 2026 obliges large suppliers to offer fixed-price contracts, limits cut-offs during billing disputes, and keeps the social tariff when you switch supplier.

You sign an electricity contract (contrato de eletricidade) with a supplier you choose, not with the network company. You need one as soon as you take over a home. With the home's installation code (CPE), your tax number (NIF), ID, proof that you live there, and an IBAN, you can sign online in minutes. A home with a smart meter is usually live within 24 hours. If a technician must visit, the visit must be offered within three working days. Switching supplier later is free and takes at most three weeks.

How the market works

Two companies are involved in every home.

  • The supplier (comercializador) signs your contract and bills you.
  • The network operator (operador de rede) owns the cables and the meter. On the mainland this is E-Redes, whoever bills you.

You never contract with E-Redes directly. Your supplier sends it the order to switch on, read, or reconnect your meter.

You can buy from either of two markets:

  • The free market (mercado livre). Licensed suppliers set their own prices. Most homes are here.
  • The regulated price. ERSE, the energy regulator, sets it once a year. You get it from the supplier of last resort (comercializador de último recurso), which on the mainland is SU Eletricidade.

Any home on normal low voltage with contracted power up to 41.4 kVA can choose the regulated price. It is due to stay available until the end of 2027. To get it, ask your current supplier whether it offers a price equal to the regulated one. It must answer within 10 working days. If it does not offer one, you can move to SU Eletricidade with no loyalty penalty.

What you need before you sign

Gather these once and the contract takes minutes:

  • Your NIF. Suppliers ask for it.
  • An identity document: Citizen Card (Cartão de Cidadão), residence card, or passport.
  • Proof that you occupy the home. ERSE accepts a rental contract, a deed or other valid title, official documents, tax or Social Security documents, or another utility bill under three months old.
  • The CPE (Código de Ponto de Entrega). See below.
  • A meter reading. Photograph the meter on the day you get the keys.
  • An IBAN for direct debit (débito direto).

Old debts are not yours. A supplier cannot refuse you a contract because a previous occupant left unpaid bills, unless the change of name is clearly a way to avoid paying.

What the CPE is and where to find it

The CPE is the code that identifies the electrical installation, not the customer. It stays with the home when tenants and owners change. Your new supplier uses it to register your contract against the right meter.

You can find it:

  • on any previous electricity bill for the address, so ask the landlord or seller for one
  • in E-Redes' notice confirming a new grid connection, for a new home
  • through E-Redes' Balcão Digital (balcaodigital.e-redes.pt), where you can request it

If the property has never been connected, there is no CPE yet. You or your builder ask E-Redes for a new connection through the Balcão Digital. That is quoted separately and takes longer.

Choosing your contracted power

Every contract states a contracted power (potência contratada) in kVA. It caps how much you can draw at once. If you exceed it, the main switch trips until you turn something off. It also sets the fixed daily charge, so a higher level costs more every day, whether or not you use it.

The levels for homes are 1.15, 2.3, 3.45, 4.6, 5.75, 6.9, 10.35, 13.8, 17.25, and 20.7 kVA, with higher levels up to 41.4 kVA. ERSE's own examples use 3.45 kVA for a couple with no children and 6.9 kVA for a couple with two children.

Two points before you choose:

  • Stay at 6.9 kVA or below if you can. The social tariff and the reduced VAT on the first kWh both stop above that level.
  • Do not just copy the previous occupant's level. On the regulated price, 6.9 kVA costs about €64 a year more than 3.45 kVA in fixed charges alone, before VAT.

You can change the level through your supplier. With a smart meter, no visit is usually needed.

Choosing a tariff: single, two-rate, or three-rate

The second choice is the time option (opção horária). It decides whether the price per kWh changes with the hour.

  • Single rate (tarifa simples). One price all day. The safe default if you cannot shift when you use power.
  • Two-rate (tarifa bi-horária). A cheaper rate in off-peak hours (horas de vazio) and a dearer rate the rest of the time (fora de vazio). It pays off if you can run the washing machine, dishwasher, water heater, or car charger off-peak.
  • Three-rate (tarifa tri-horária). Off-peak, mid (cheias), and peak (ponta) rates. Usually only worth it for larger homes that move most use into off-peak hours.

Two-rate and three-rate contracts come in two cycles:

  • Daily cycle (ciclo diário). The same off-peak window every day: 22:00 to 08:00.
  • Weekly cycle (ciclo semanal). A shorter weekday window, 00:00 to 07:00, but most of Saturday and all of Sunday count as off-peak.

Is two-rate worth it? On the 2026 regulated prices, the off-peak rate is about 45% cheaper than the two-rate peak rate. But that peak rate is about 20% dearer than the single rate. On those figures, two-rate saves money only if more than about 37% of your use falls in the off-peak window. With a smart meter, your supplier's app or the E-Redes Balcão Digital shows your use by hour, so you can check.

You can now change time option within the same cycle without the old 12-month wait. ERSE is redrawing the off-peak and peak hours. The new hours will not apply before 1 January 2027.

Fixed or indexed price

On the free market you also choose between two kinds of price:

  • A fixed price, locked for the contract term.
  • An indexed price, which follows the wholesale market month by month. It is cheaper when wholesale prices are low and expensive when they rise.

Under the law published on 29 June 2026, every supplier with more than 200,000 customers must offer at least one fixed-price, fixed-term contract lasting at least a year.

What it costs: the 2026 regulated prices

ERSE's regulated prices for homes rose by 1.0% on average in 2026. These are the mainland prices from 1 January 2026, before VAT and other taxes. Use them as a benchmark for any free-market offer.

Contracted powerFixed charge per day
1.15 kVA€0.0893
2.3 kVA€0.1500
3.45 kVA€0.1917
4.6 kVA€0.2499
5.75 kVA€0.3079
6.9 kVA€0.3659
10.35 kVA€0.5397
13.8 kVA€0.7136
17.25 kVA€0.8875
20.7 kVA€1.0614
Energy, from 3.45 to 20.7 kVAPrice per kWh
Single rate€0.1654
Two-rate, peak (fora de vazio)€0.1988
Two-rate, off-peak (vazio)€0.1087
Three-rate, peak (ponta)€0.2495
Three-rate, mid (cheias)€0.1690
Three-rate, off-peak (vazio)€0.1087

At 1.15 and 2.3 kVA, the single rate is €0.1620 per kWh; the other rates are the same.

ERSE gives two examples of average monthly bills on the regulated price, with taxes. A couple with no children (3.45 kVA, 1,900 kWh a year) pays €36.82. A couple with two children (6.9 kVA, 5,000 kWh a year) pays €95.03.

Part of every bill is the network access tariff (tarifa de acesso às redes). ERSE sets it each year, and it is the same whoever supplies you. For homes it rose by 3.5% in 2026. Suppliers compete only on the rest of the price, so a headline discount is smaller than it looks.

How to compare offers

Use ERSE's free price simulator on its website. It compares the free-market offers. Enter your contracted power, time option, and yearly use. If you do not know your use, take it from the last bill for the address, or start from ERSE's examples above. Your free-market bill also has to show what you would have paid on the regulated price.

Run the simulator again once a year, when ERSE changes the regulated prices each January, or when a discount on your contract ends.

How to open the contract, step by step

  1. Find the CPE, take a meter reading, and decide your contracted power and time option.
  2. Compare offers on ERSE's simulator and choose a supplier.
  3. Ask for the contract summary (ficha contratual). The supplier must give it to you before you sign. It shows the prices, how often you pay, any loyalty period, and any extra services.
  4. Sign up online, by phone, or in a shop. Give your NIF, ID, address, CPE, IBAN, and the meter reading.
  5. Your supplier asks E-Redes to switch on the supply. With a smart meter, E-Redes must do this remotely, usually within 24 hours.
  6. If a technician must visit, E-Redes must offer an appointment within three working days after your supplier books it.
  7. Check your first bill for the right CPE, contracted power, and time option. Errors are easiest to fix in the first month.

Changing your mind. If you signed online, by phone, or away from the supplier's premises, you can cancel within 14 days without giving a reason. If a salesperson came to your door, you have 30 days. Cancel in a way that leaves written proof, such as email or a letter.

If the supply is still live in the previous occupant's name, your new contract takes its place.

How long it takes

  • Existing home with a smart meter, supply off: switched on remotely, usually within 24 hours.
  • Existing home, technician needed: appointment offered within three working days.
  • Switching supplier on a live connection: no interruption; the change must happen within three weeks.
  • New connection with no CPE: quoted separately by E-Redes, and takes longer.

The social tariff (tarifa social)

Low-income households pay less, on the regulated price or a free-market offer. In 2026 the discount equals 33.8% of the regulated price before taxes. You also pay no electricity consumption tax (IEC). ERSE's example couple on 3.45 kVA saves €13.44 a month.

You qualify if the contract is in your name, for your permanent home, with contracted power of 6.9 kVA or less, and one of these applies:

  • You receive the solidarity supplement for older people (complemento solidário para idosos), social integration income (rendimento social de inserção), unemployment benefit, child benefit (abono de família), the social old-age pension, or the social invalidity pension.
  • Your household's yearly income is €6,272.64 or less. That figure rises by 50% for each household member with no income, including you, up to 10 people (€34,499.52 for 10).

You do not need to apply. DGEG, the energy directorate, checks eligibility automatically with Social Security and the tax authority. Your supplier then writes to you, and the discount applies unless you object within 30 days. If you think you qualify and it is missing, ask Social Security for proof that you receive a qualifying benefit. Give that to your supplier and ask it to check.

When you switch supplier, the social tariff stays with you without a new request. See Getting the Social Energy Tariff in Portugal for more.

How to read your bill

Every supplier's bill has the same building blocks:

  • Power (termo de potência). The daily charge for your contracted power, times the days billed.
  • Energy (energia). Your kWh in each period, times the rate. This is where suppliers compete.
  • Network access. Usually included in the two lines above.
  • DGEG fee (taxa DGEG). A small fixed fee set by DGEG.
  • Electricity consumption tax (IEC). A small tax per kWh.
  • Audiovisual contribution (contribuição audiovisual, CAV). €2.85 a month, which funds public broadcasting. Homes using less than 400 kWh a year are exempt. Social tariff customers who receive the solidarity supplement for older people, social integration income, social unemployment benefit, first-tier child benefit, or the social invalidity pension pay €1 instead.
  • VAT (IVA). See below.

Check three things on every bill: whether the reading is real (leitura real) or estimated (estimativa), whether the contracted power is what you chose, and whether the rates match your time option. Without a smart meter, send a reading every month through your supplier, the E-Redes Balcão Digital, or E-Redes' free line on 800 507 507. Then you pay for what you actually use.

The VAT rules

Electricity VAT on the mainland is split. If your contracted power is 6.9 kVA or less:

  • The first 200 kWh in each 30-day period pay 6%. The rest pays 23%.
  • Families of five or more people get 300 kWh at 6%. Ask your supplier how to prove your household size.
  • At 3.45 kVA or less, the network access part of the fixed charge also pays 6%.

Above 6.9 kVA, energy pays 23%. The audiovisual contribution always pays 6%. The same VAT rules apply on both markets.

Switching supplier

Switching is free, needs no visit, and does not interrupt the supply. Only the company that bills you changes. Sign with the new supplier and it handles the move; you do not need to contact the old one. The switch must happen within three weeks. The old supplier has six weeks to send a final bill.

Check your current contract for a loyalty period (período de fidelização). For home customers it can last at most 12 months. It must come with a specific benefit, such as a discount, and it does not renew automatically. If you leave early, you pay the charge stated in the contract, so time your switch for when the period ends.

Your rights if something goes wrong

Power cut. Faults are an E-Redes matter, not your supplier's. Call 800 506 506, free, 24 hours a day.

Cut for non-payment. Once you pay, your supplier tells E-Redes within 30 minutes. If a technician must come, E-Redes must reconnect you within 12 hours, with the clock paused from midnight to 08:00. For a €45 urgent charge, the limit is four hours. Reconnection itself costs €3.81 if done remotely, or €14.97 with a technician, before VAT.

Under the June 2026 law, a supplier cannot cut you off while a complaint or dispute about your bill is open. Once you are more than 60 days behind, it must offer a payment plan. Economically vulnerable households have extra protection from cut-offs in the winter and summer peak months.

Wrong bill. Complain to the supplier first, in writing or in the complaints book (Livro de Reclamações), which is also online. If that fails, contact ERSE or a consumer arbitration centre.

Leaving the home. Cancel the contract in writing from the date you hand back the keys, and give a final reading. Do not just stop paying: unpaid bills follow you, not the address.

E-Redes' general customer line is 218 100 100, on working days.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Prices and rules change; check the official source before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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