Free-market households have paid more for electricity than on the regulated tariff since 2023. Regulator advises switching
Since mid-2023, households buying electricity on the free market have on average paid more than customers on the regulated tariff. This is the finding of a report on electricity prices for 2021–2025 that the energy regulator ERSE published on 28 October. The gap was widest in the third quarter of 2024. In 2025 it narrowed but did not close.
Cheap offers do exist, though. In every quarter of 2025, between 20% and almost 40% of the offers on the market produced a monthly bill, taxes included, lower than under the regulated tariff. According to ERSE, the average is pushed up by old contracts: many people go years without changing their supplier or their terms, and pay more than they would on a new offer. Almost all households (98%) buy electricity at a fixed price, so when the market gets cheaper, their bills fall only after a delay.
The regulator advises comparing your contract with the offers in the ERSE price simulator, then either asking your supplier for new terms or switching to another one. Your bill also shows how your price compares with the regulated tariff: free-market suppliers are required to include this.
ERSE reviews the regulated tariff once a year. Under the current rules, the tariff will remain available until the end of 2027. Anyone with a contracted power of up to 41.4 kVA — which covers ordinary flats and houses — can move to it. First, ask your supplier whether it offers a price equal to the regulated tariff (tarifa equiparada). It must reply within ten working days, and any refusal must be in writing. With that written refusal, you can sign a contract with the supplier of last resort (comercializador de último recurso), which sells electricity at the regulated tariff.
If your contract has a minimum term (fidelização), there is only one situation in which you can leave early without paying a penalty: moving to the supplier of last resort after your supplier has refused you the regulated price. If you switch early to another company on the free market, you pay the penalty set out in your contract.
We explain how to get electricity connected and sign your first contract in our guide How to connect electricity, water and internet when moving into a home.
