Vienna households miss electricity discounts due to smart meter settings

In Vienna, many households are missing out on electricity discounts due to technical requirements. Since April, the ‘Summer Low Work Price’ (SNAP) has allowed residents to reduce their network fees by 20 percent between 10 AM and 4 PM, provided they shift electricity usage to these hours.

To qualify for this discount, the quarter-hour measurement must be explicitly activated on a smart meter. According to Wiener Netze, only approximately 310,000 out of 1.6 million connections have this measurement activated. This means only about one in five connections can currently benefit from the lower rate.

E-Control reports that while individual households could save between 11 and 15 euros per season, the aggregate loss for the 1.3 million unactivated connections could reach up to 20 million euros annually. Activation requires a personal request via the smart meter portal or email; simply registering for the portal is insufficient.