Solaranlage — © Christian Vorhofer / Westend61

Living in Austria

Energy for households

In Austria each tenant is responsible for choosing their own energy supply company.

Overview

Even though each building is serviced by one electric source and main gas provider, there are competitive providers. To search for alternative energy providers you can use online- services such as durchblicker.at to request competitive bids, or the online energy calculator.Companies providing telecommunications, postal, transport, energy, water and waste disposal services are considered essential services. The state and local authorities are obliged to provide these services included in the residential contracts between tenant and house owner.

This means they must conclude a contract with anyone who meets the general requirements for their services. These requirements must be set out in their General Terms and Conditions (Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen – AGBs). The companies may not arbitrarily disadvantage anyone in respect of the conditions of the contract and cannot refuse to conclude a contract without citing reasons.

Electricity and gas

The obligation to provide a basic supply (universal service) in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions and at the standard tariff also applies to the electricity and gas sector.

This does not generally prevent companies from cutting off the supply of gas or electricity if bills are not paid. However, the legal entitlement to a universal service means that consumers and small businesses who are struggling to pay their bills can use mechanisms to prevent their supply being cut off or arrange for it to be restored quickly. Once the universal service contract is in place, this contract replaces any previous contractual relationships that the consumer may have been involved in.

However, the conclusion of such an agreement does not have the effect of canceling existing debts. The connection cannot be terminated as a result of these unpaid bills, but on appeal all costs associated with the new agreement for the provision of a basic service and all other associated costs must be paid on time. Disputes can be referred to the E-Control arbitration board.