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Government starts energy transition: fair electricity for all Austrians!
On June 9, 2025, the Austrian federal government will announce a far-reaching energy reform to promote fairness and efficiency in the electricity market.
Government starts energy transition: fair electricity for all Austrians!
On Whit Monday, the federal government in Austria announced a comprehensive energy reform. Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker described the new Electricity Industry Act (ELWG) as the biggest reform in the last two decades. The aim is to create more fairness in the energy supply, reduce bureaucracy and reduce electricity prices, reports vienna.at.
A central element of the law is the introduction of a social tariff that is intended to benefit people at risk of poverty. In addition, suppliers are legally obliged to pass on falling wholesale prices to end customers. This should result in a noticeable reduction in network costs, as the Chancellor explained. The opportunities for households and businesses to generate, share and trade their own electricity are also being expanded.
Relief measures
Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler highlighted the burdens on Austrians caused by rising energy prices. In this context, he referred to the rent freeze that has already been introduced, which benefits 2.7 million tenants. According to the current report, energy prices rose by 1.3 percent in May 2025, while the inflation rate fell slightly to 3.0 percent, after being 3.1 percent in April.
Babler also emphasized that the reformed regulations also include an “energy crisis mechanism” that is intended to prevent exorbitant price increases in crisis situations. Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger assessed the reform as a first step towards improving the economic and employment location in Austria.
Regulatory changes in focus
A central aspect of the new law also concerns the regulations for intelligent electricity meters. Critics complain that the legitimacy of smart meters is not sufficiently taken into account in the change in the law. Loud parliament.gv.at The general right to reject smart meters is no longer applicable, which leads to concerns about monitoring and dependence on network operators.
Another point is the planned changes to the Energy Control Act. These include, among other things, the daily transmission of quarter-hourly consumption data, which can mean an increase in transparency and efficiency for many consumers, but also raises concerns regarding data protection.
The path to climate neutrality
The reform falls into a larger context of the ongoing decarbonization of the energy system. According to the requirements of the 3rd internal energy market package of 2009 and Regulation (EU) 2019/941, strengthening consumer rights and promoting active participation in the energy market are seen as crucial, reports parliament.gv.at.
A central goal of the new regulations is to cover 100 percent of total electricity consumption from renewable energy sources by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. These measures are intended not only to modernize the German market, but also to protect local households from energy poverty and to promote statistical recording of affected households.