Natural gas service in Portugal

Before requesting a connection, you must ensure that your home is prepared and certified to receive natural gas.

When the property is ready to receive natural gas, you should contact the distribution system operator and request a quote.

The distribution system operator is responsible for constructing the necessary infrastructure for connections with expected consumption of up to 10 000 m3 per year.

More information can be found on the website of the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE).

When moving to a property that has already had a natural gas contract, you do not need to remain with the same company as in the previous contract, you can choose any supplier on the Portuguese market.

Some suppliers have offers for the supply of electricity and natural gas in the same contract. Compare the different offers to find out if it is more advantageous for you to contract the two services together or separately.

You can compare different suppliers’ prices by using the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) simulator or the Energy Agency (ADENE) simulator.

More information can be found on the ERSE website.

Before you switch supplier, check whether you are within the minimum term of the current contract.

A contract can only have a minimum term if an advantage is provided when you sign up. The minimum term is not automatically renewed but if a new offer, including a new advantage, is made at the end of the contract, a new minimum term may be agreed.

If you are not within the minimum term, you can switch supplier free of charge whenever you want and how often you want. If you are within the minimum term you may have to pay a penalty.

In order to switch supplier, you do not need to cancel the contract with the current supplier, the new supplier will deal with the cancellation.

The switching process is free of cost and must be completed within three weeks of signing the new contract.

During the switching process the supply cannot be cut and, within a maximum of 6 weeks after the change, the previous supplier has to send the last bill.

Some suppliers have offers for the supply of electricity and natural gas in the same contract. Compare the different offers to find out if it is more advantageous for you to contract the two services together or separately.

You can compare different suppliers’ prices by using the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) simulator or the Energy Agency (ADENE) simulator.

More information can be found on the ERSE website.

When you have a problem, you should contact your power supplier to get an answer.

If the supplier does not reply or you are not satisfied with the reply, you can:

• submit a complaint or request for information to ERSE via the e-complaint book
• submit a complaint in the physical complaints book at your power supplier’s service centres
• send your complaint by letter to the Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) at Rua Dom Cristóvão da Gama, 1, 3.º - 1400-113 Lisboa.

Following the complaint, ERSE will recommend a solution to resolve the conflict. If the company accepts this solution, the issue is resolved.

If the company does not accept ERSE’s recommendation, the conflict will remain open and you may apply to:

• an Arbitration Centre
• a Justice of the peace
• the courts.

Arbitration Centres are recommended as they provide a quicker, cheaper solution and their decisions are equivalent to those made by a court of law.

More information can be found on the ERSE website.

In Portugal, there is a 'social tariff' for the supply of natural gas which guarantees a discount on bills.

If you meet the requirements for entitlement to this support, the social tariff is automatically allocated, you do not need to do anything.

If you are entitled to the social tariff, the supplier will send you a letter informing you that you have been granted this right.

The social tariff is granted to persons with gas consumption of less than 500 m3 per year who receive:

• solidarity supplement for the elderly
• income support supplement
• unemployment assistance
• bracket 1 of child benefit
• social disability pension.

More information can be found on Energy Services Regulatory Authority (ERSE) website.