How to connect electricity, water and the internet when you move into a home in Portugal

First find out what is already connected in the home

Before you move in, or on the day you get the keys, ask the landlord: are electricity, water, gas and the internet connected right now, whose name are the contracts in, and can they be transferred to you? Ask for the latest bills: they show the codes you will need — the CPE, Código de Ponto de Entrega (the electricity supply point code), for electricity, and usually the customer or meter number for water.

Photograph the meters on the day you move in: electricity, water, and gas if there is any. This stops you paying for the previous tenants' usage. If the internet is already installed, check whose router it is and whether there is a contract still running with fidelização (a minimum term).

“Yes, I rent with a contract. There's no electricity and I couldn't get it connected.even though the pole was really close. EDP turned me down after the assessment. I worked out how much just the application and the assessment were costing me in time,decided to buy a generator.I use it for the pump and so on.when needed. In the evening we sit cosily under fairy lights on solar panels.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

flowersPortugal08.08.2026

“In March we got electricity connected with edp,they gave us the full package, in September we switched to gulp, in September we also settled all the bills, the app showed zero. A month ago a letter came saying they'd found a debt of 95 euros. I went in- they said it's for the gas inspection that was done at the start, like they'd spread it over a year and added it to the bill, and then we left and now they want it all at once.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatporto03.12.2024

Get your documents and the landlord's permissions ready

For utility contracts you usually need: a passport or cartão de residência (residence card), a NIF (tax number), the rental contract, the address, a phone number, an e-mail address and sometimes an IBAN for débito direto (direct debit). Under SEPA a foreign IBAN should be accepted, but in practice some companies' systems do not work well with non-Portuguese accounts.

For the internet, ask the landlord and the condomínio (the building's owners' association) in advance whether you may run fibre, drill the wall or put equipment in the distribution box. Not every landlord lets you choose any provider you like.

“Woo, Meo and Nos definitely have mobile+home bundles, it works out cheaper, but you can't get it connected everywhere and not all landlords let you choose your own home internet but if the owners let you, then that's the way to go mobile coverage is about the same with all operators, except Vodafone gets a somewhat weaker signal away from the centre”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

Portugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk Chat19.11.2025

Connect electricity through a supplier, not through E-REDES

In Portugal E-REDES (the grid operator) is responsible for the network and the meters, but you sign the contract with a supplier: EDP Comercial (an electricity supplier), Galp (an energy supplier), Goldenergy, Iberdrola, Endesa, SU Eletricidade (the regulated market) and others. To compare tariffs, the Simulador da ERSE (the energy regulator's calculator) is handy.

When you sign up, give the CPE, your NIF, the address, the potência contratada (contracted power) and the tariff: simples (one price all day), bi-horário (day/night) or tri-horário (three time bands). If everything in the home is already technically ready, the connection usually goes through the supplier you chose, and it passes the request on itself.

Read the contract very carefully before you sign. A common problem is that service packages such as EDP Easy or EDP Smart get added along with the electricity. They are not the same as the electricity contract itself and can keep being charged even after you change supplier.

“EDP cheats you even when you say straight out in the office ‘electricity only’, and the employee answers ‘of course! Electricity only.. oh, the tablet isn't working, the printer either, sign here, and the contract will come to your e-mail’. And you'd think, what extra could there be when everyone understood each other and agreed on electricity only..”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatlisboa25.05.2024

“You can change operator at any time. If you want to stay with EDP, you can tell them: remove this subscription for free without paying for the year or I'll move to another operator. I'd guess they'll turn it off. They added one for me too at 8 euros a month, I noticed before the first payment, and when I went to them to cancel it, they tried to scare me that I'd have to pay 60 euros for the annual inspection, even though the tenant had installed everything just a month before me, but I insisted on cancelling (after all even 60 euros a year is less than 8 a month). And in fact no 60 euros was ever taken. By the way, I now get my electricity from GALP.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

left4portugal09.11.2024

If there is no electricity at all or you need more power, be ready to deal with E-REDES and an electrician

If the house has no active connection point, the old meter has been removed, a new line is needed or a higher power level is not available in the supplier's app, simply changing tariff will not solve it. Then you need a técnico responsável or eletricista certificado (a licensed electrician), who will inspect the instalação elétrica (the electrical installation), prepare the paperwork and send it to E-REDES.

If the EDP app or another supplier's app lets you simply increase the potência contratada, the equipment can most likely already take that load. If there is no such option, an inspection is needed and sometimes a new circuit breaker, cable or distribution board. From people's experience, cases like this can drag on for months.

Set up water with the municipal company

Water is not arranged with a single national supplier but with a local company. It may be SMAS (municipal water and sewage services), EPAL (Lisbon's water supply), Águas do Porto (water in Porto) or another company in your concelho (municipality).

You usually need your NIF, an identity document, the rental contract, the address, the meter reading and sometimes the details of the previous contract. You can apply online, by e-mail or at an office. If there is no meter, the water company installs one, but the tenant or owner may be asked to prepare the spot: a caixa para contador de água (water meter box) and taps before and after the meter.

The same municipality is also responsible for rubbish collection, and from 10 April 2026 some rubbish stopped being rubbish: on plastic bottles and cans with the Volta symbol, shops charge a 10-cent deposit and give it back when you return the empty container to a collection point. A bottle thrown into the yellow bin now costs you those ten cents. Where to take containers, what condition they must be in and what to do if they are refused — Volta: the deposit on bottles and cans.

“The meter is installed by the water company. They required a box and two taps from me - before and after the meter. The local shop simply sold me the whole set: a meter holder and the two taps needed.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

remont_pt24.11.2025

Check internet coverage at your address and only then choose a tariff

Home internet depends on the exact address, the building entrance and even the distribution box. Check cobertura de fibra (fibre coverage) on the websites of MEO, NOS, Vodafone, Digi, Woo, Uzo and others. In 2024–⁠2026, after Digi arrived along with cheap sub-brands such as Woo/Uzo, prices fell noticeably, but the cheap operators are not available everywhere.

Check three things before you order: whether there is a 24-month fidelização, how much installation costs, what happens if you cancel early, and whether you have to return the router and the TV box. With the big three, MEO/NOS/Vodafone, any change of tariff can restart the minimum term, so do not agree to a “small upgrade” until you have seen the terms.

After you apply, a técnico (technician) is booked to bring in the cable and install the router. From real experience, timings vary a lot: in one case Vodafone connected the next day, while MEO said to wait about two weeks; other people found Woo, after MEO, worked reliably for a year.

“Woo for a year now after meo. Works much more reliably, haven't had to restart the router once. Once a meo technician broke our cable - we had to wait a day for our technician. No other problems.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatlisboa10.09.2025

Set up bill payment: débito direto, Multibanco or Payshop

Utility bills can usually be paid by débito direto (direct debit), referência Multibanco (a payment reference code), MB Way, a banking app, a Multibanco cash machine or Payshop (bill payment counters). If you do not have a Portuguese card, Payshop often lets you pay a bill in cash or by card, as long as the bill has the payment details on it.

After changing supplier, do not delete the old app straight away: final bills, recalculations or separate service charges may still arrive. If you get an SMS saying “pay urgently or we will cut you off”, check the number and the amount in the official app or your online account — there are scam messages pretending to be from EDP.

“got an sms supposedly from EDP, even though the contract with them was closed for good last December. From the number [phone]. Apparently more scammers, be careful. This is what it says: Caro cliente, iremos realizar no dia de hoje a suspensão da sua eletricidade. Pague no Multibanco o valor em atraso para evitar a suspensão do seu serviço.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatlisboa01.09.2024

Once connected, check the first bill and cancel anything you do not need

When the first bill arrives, check the tariff, the power level, the readings, and whether there are insurance policies, service packages, TV packages or other add-ons. If something extra has appeared, contact customer support at once and keep the correspondence. You usually have 14 days to cancel a service sold to you at a distance, but after that companies may say the service contract runs for a year.

If you are moving out of your old home, close the old contracts separately and ask for confirmation. For the internet, find out where to return the router and the TV box. If the operator does not reply or charges disputed amounts, use the Livro de Reclamações (complaints book); for telecoms you can also complain to ANACOM (the communications regulator), and for energy to ERSE (the energy regulator).

“I went to the EDP office before my two years of Smart ran out, said I don't need it, cancel it. They said fine, I signed something. That was in summer, they told me they'd remove it from September. Then they called, I said again remove it, I don't want to continue, then they e-mailed - follow the link, confirm you don't want it🤯 In the end Smart was still on the September bill.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

left4portugal15.10.2025

If the power goes off: check the fuse box first, then call E-REDES

First see whether the neighbours and the stairwell have power. If it is dark only at your place, open the fuse box in the flat: if the main circuit breaker has tripped, switch it back on. If it trips when the oven, the washing machine or an electric car charger are running at the same time, you do not have enough power: the potência contratada is raised with the supplier, often right in its app (see step 4). If the breaker trips again and again with nothing switched on, crackles or smells of burning — do not switch it on: the problem is the wiring and you need an electrician.

If the whole building or the street has no power, it is a fault in the grid. Do not call the supplier (EDP, Endesa, Galp and others) but E-REDES: 800 506 506, free and round the clock. You can also message WhatsApp on +351 913 846 398 or report it in the Balcão Digital — E-REDES's online account on its website. Have the CPE from your bill to hand.

When E-REDES decides a visit is needed, the technician must arrive within 4 hours; if you called at night, between midnight and 8 am, the hours are counted from 8:00. If they do not arrive on time, you are entitled to €20 off your bill. But if the fault turns out to be in your wiring and not in the grid, the same €20 may be charged to you.

If the power was cut for non-payment, that is a matter for the supplier. Before cutting you off, it must warn you in writing 20 days in advance. After you pay, the power must be restored within 12 hours, or within 6 with a smart meter; the time between midnight and 8 am does not count.

Under ERSE rules, planned works must be announced at least 36 hours in advance — in person or through newspapers, radio or television. E-REDES says it sends an SMS and an e-mail if it has your phone number and e-mail address. It also publishes a list of works weeks ahead: postcode, day and hours without power — look for your postcode in it.

You are entitled to compensation for frequent and long outages, and you do not have to ask for it. The standard for a flat or house over a year: in a district capital or a place with more than 25,000 customers — no more than 10 outages longer than three minutes or 6 hours without power in total; where there are between 2,500 and 25,000 customers — 11 outages or 9 hours; everywhere else — 15 outages or 14 hours. Planned works and severe storms that ERSE has recognised as exceptional do not count. If the standard is exceeded, the compensation is calculated automatically and deducted from your bill in the spring of the following year. In Madeira and the Azores the grid is run not by E-REDES but by local companies, and the standards there are different.

“Our main breaker kept tripping even at 6.9. We live in a T2, it's a basic flat. We called an independent electrician, he found nothing, recommended going up to 10.35 We changed it in the online account, the electricity stopped cutting out”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

left4portugal22.09.2024

“Maybe better to call E-Redes? They even have whatsapp. If the power's gone in the whole building, it's a grid problem.”

Translated from Russian; the original is at the link

chatporto27.08.2026