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Getting the Social Energy Tariff in Portugal

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

Who gets the automatic discount on electricity and gas bills, the income limits, the 6.9 kVA rule, and what to do if the discount is missing from your bill.

The Portugal Brief 8 min read

Getting the Social Energy Tariff in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • Your household is on a low income, or someone in it receives a Social Security benefit.
  • You have an electricity or gas contract for the home you live in, and the discount is not on your bill.
  • You are a public employee who receives child benefit through your employer.

Not for you if: you still need to open an electricity contract or choose your contracted power. Read Setting Up Electricity in Portugal first.

The social energy tariff (tarifa social de energia) is a discount on electricity and natural gas bills for low-income households. You usually do not apply. The state checks tax and Social Security data, and your supplier applies the discount. In 2026 the electricity discount is 33.8% of the regulated price before taxes, and you also pay no electricity consumption tax.

You qualify through a benefit, or with a household income of €6,272.64 a year or less, raised for each member without income. The contract must be in your name, for your permanent home, at 6.9 kVA or less.

What the discount is

The discount is applied to the network access tariff (tarifa de acesso às redes), the part of every bill that pays for the grid. That part appears on every bill, on the regulated price and on free-market offers alike. So you get the discount whichever supplier you use, and you keep it when you change supplier.

For electricity in 2026, the benefit has four parts:

  • a discount on the network access tariff, on both the daily power charge and the energy you use, worth 33.8% of the regulated price before taxes;
  • full exemption from the electricity consumption tax (Imposto Especial de Consumo, or IEC);
  • for some beneficiaries only, €1.85 a month off the audiovisual contribution (contribuição audiovisual, or CAV), the public broadcasting charge;
  • the VAT that would have been charged on those amounts.

ERSE, the energy regulator, gives an example. A couple with no children, on 3.45 kVA and using 1,900 kWh a year, saves €13.44 a month with the social tariff. The saving is the same on the regulated price and on the free market.

The audiovisual discount has a narrower rule. You get the €1.85 off only if you receive one of these: the solidarity supplement for older people, social integration income, social unemployment benefit, first-band child benefit, or the social invalidity pension. If you qualify only on income, you get the grid discount and the tax exemption, but pay the full audiovisual charge. See Paying the Audiovisual Contribution (CAV).

Who qualifies for the electricity discount

You need one of the two routes below, and a contract that meets the conditions in the next section.

Route 1: you receive a benefit. You qualify if you receive one of these from Social Security (Segurança Social):

  • the solidarity supplement for older people (complemento solidário para idosos);
  • social integration income (rendimento social de inserção);
  • any unemployment benefit (prestação de desemprego);
  • child benefit (abono de família);
  • the social old-age pension (pensão social de velhice);
  • the social invalidity pension under the special invalidity scheme, or the supplement to the social inclusion benefit (prestação social para a inclusão).

Route 2: low household income, with no benefit needed. Your household qualifies if its total yearly income is €6,272.64 or less. That limit rises by 50% for each household member with no income of their own, including you, up to 10 people. The tax authority works it out. "Household" means you and your dependants, as the income tax code defines them.

Household members with no incomeMaximum yearly household income
1€6,272.64
2€9,408.96
3€12,545.28
4€15,681.60
5€18,817.92
6€21,954.24
7€25,090.56
8€28,226.88
9€31,363.20
10€34,499.52

The increase counts members who have no income, not every member. A couple where one person earns and the other does not is treated differently from a couple where both earn a little.

The contract conditions that rule people out

Meeting the benefit or income test is not enough. Your electricity contract must also meet these conditions:

  • In your name. If you rent and the contract is still in your landlord's name, you cannot get the discount, however low your income. Putting the contract in your own name is the most useful step you can take.
  • For home use only, at your permanent home. A second home does not qualify.
  • Low voltage, with contracted power of 6.9 kVA or less. Contracted power is the kVA figure on your bill. It was chosen when the contract was opened, often by a previous occupant. If it is 10.35 kVA or higher, you get nothing, even if your income qualifies.

If your contracted power is above 6.9 kVA, ask your supplier to lower it, if your home can run at the lower level. A lower level also cuts the daily power charge on every bill. The setting-up electricity guide explains how to choose and change it.

Natural gas has its own rules

There is a separate social tariff for natural gas. Its conditions are:

  • contract in your name;
  • for home use only, at your permanent home;
  • low pressure;
  • yearly use of 500 m³ or less.

The qualifying benefits are the same as for electricity, with two differences. Only the first band of child benefit counts, and the social old-age pension is not on the gas list.

For the gas year from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, the gas discount is 31.2%, worked out against the regulated price. It applies on the regulated price and on free-market offers.

How the automatic system works

DGEG, the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology, runs the scheme. Suppliers send it their customer data. DGEG checks who qualifies with the tax authority (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) and Social Security. Suppliers then apply the discount to the households on the list. You do not need to ask.

When you are granted the discount, your supplier writes to you. If you do not want it, you have 30 days to object. If you say nothing, the discount applies.

DGEG checks eligibility on two timetables:

  • Every month: with Social Security, for all electricity customers. Also with the tax authority, for new contracts and for contracts whose details have changed.
  • Every year, in September: with the tax authority, for all electricity customers.

The September check uses your tax position and can move many households in or out at once. If your discount disappears in the autumn without explanation, that yearly tax check is the likely reason. If you start receiving a qualifying benefit, the monthly Social Security check should pick it up.

If the discount does not appear

The automatic match does not catch everyone. You have three options.

1. Get proof yourself and give it to your supplier

You can ask Social Security, or the tax authority, for a document proving you qualify. Give it to your energy supplier and ask it to check the conditions and apply the tariff. You do not have to wait for the next automatic check.

2. Public employees on child benefit: send a declaration every year

If you are a civil servant and your employer pays your child benefit, the automatic check cannot see it, because it is paid outside the Social Security system. You must handle this yourself.

  1. Ask the department that processes your child benefit for a declaration.
  2. Check that it is dated and shows your child benefit band, your full name, your tax number (NIF), and your permanent address.
  3. Give it to your energy supplier and ask it to apply the social tariff.
  4. Repeat this every year, and also whenever your situation changes.

Without this declaration you are entitled to the discount but will not get it.

3. Ask DGEG to review your case

If you believe you qualify and the discount has not been applied, send DGEG a request for review:

  • Online: through the information and complaints form for the social tariff (Tarifa Social: Pedido de Informação/Reclamação) on the DGEG website.
  • By post: Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia, Tarifa Social de Energia, Av. 5 de Outubro, 208 (Edifício Santa Maria), 1069-203 Lisboa.

DGEG has no in-person service for the social tariff.

Phone lines. DGEG lists a general information line, 210 308 536, on working days from 09:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00. If you have already made a complaint, there is a second line, 217 922 700 or 217 922 800, on working days from 10:00 to 12:00 (choose options 1, then 1, then 2).

DGEG's own report for April to June 2026 shows the general line answered no calls in those months. The second line answered about three calls a working day. Written contact is the more reliable way to reach DGEG.

How many people get it, and who pays

Between April and June 2026, an average of about 728,000 electricity customers received the discount, about 7.1% of the population. For gas, the average was about 56,000.

The state budget does not pay for the electricity discount. ERSE says the cost falls on power plant owners, electricity suppliers, and other market players that buy electricity directly on the wholesale market.

Three checks to make now

  1. Find the contracted power on a recent bill. If it is above 6.9 kVA, that alone rules you out. Ask your supplier whether you can lower it.
  2. Check whose name is on the contract. It must be someone who lives in the home permanently.
  3. Check how child benefit is paid. If a public employer pays it, get the yearly declaration and give it to your supplier.

If you think you qualify through a benefit, see our guides to social integration income (RSI), the solidarity supplement for older people, unemployment benefit, and child benefit.

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. 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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