Best Electricity Providers in Austria (2026)

By Best:in Editorial Team · Updated September 2026

As of September 2026, Austria's electricity market mixes nine former regional monopolies, the national hydropower producer Verbund, and challenger brands such as oekostrom AG and aWATTar. There is no single nationwide winner: households choose between fixed-price regional utilities like Wien Energie or EVN, a hydropower-heavy national supplier, a 100% renewable specialist, or an hourly dynamic tariff tied to wholesale spot prices. This guide ranks seven providers on reach, green sourcing, tariff flexibility, digital tools and financial stability.

Best Electricity Providers in Austria, ranked

1.

Verbund AG

Verbund AG is Austria's largest electricity producer, founded in 1947 and majority owned by the Republic of Austria. Its generation base is dominated by hydropower plants on the Danube and Alpine rivers, and it sells fixed-price tariffs to households in all nine federal states, not just its home region. Listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, it combines nationwide reach with the financial scale of a state-backed generator.

Best for: Best overall / largest hydropower-backed supplier

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2.

Wien Energie

Wien Energie has supplied Vienna since a 1999 merger of three city utilities and remains wholly owned by the City of Vienna through Wiener Stadtwerke. It bundles electricity with natural gas and district heating in a single contract, which suits Vienna households that want one supplier for multiple services. Its reach is regional rather than nationwide, so it scores lower than Verbund on national availability.

Best for: Best for Vienna households wanting bundled utilities

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3.

EVN AG

EVN AG formed in 1990 from the merger of NEWAG and NIOGAS and is majority owned by the State of Lower Austria. It supplies electricity, gas, heat and water in Lower Austria and also runs utility operations in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Croatia, giving it unusual international scale for a regional Austrian utility. Its core customer base stays regional, which caps its national-reach score versus Verbund and Wien Energie.

Best for: Best multi-utility bundle in Lower Austria

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4.

Energie Steiermark

Energie Steiermark, headquartered in Graz and majority owned by the State of Styria, took its current name in 2011 after rebranding from Estag. It supplies electricity, gas and heat regionally in Styria while also selling electricity tariffs nationwide. Its hydropower, wind and photovoltaic generation base is smaller in scale than Verbund's, which weighs on its financial-stability score.

Best for: Best for Styria households

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5.

Energie AG Oberösterreich

Energie AG Oberösterreich, headquartered in Linz and majority owned by the State of Upper Austria, supplies electricity, gas and heat regionally and also runs waste-management services, an unusual combination among Austrian utilities. Its footprint is concentrated in Upper Austria, which limits its national reach compared with Verbund or oekostrom AG, though its diversified regional business supports steady financial stability.

Best for: Best for Upper Austria households

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6.

oekostrom AG

oekostrom AG, founded in Vienna in 1999, was one of Austria's first independent green electricity retailers and supplies only electricity certified as renewable, sourced from hydro, wind, solar and biomass plants rather than from its own large hydropower stations. It sells nationwide and is owned by a broad base of private shareholders rather than a regional government, which makes it a distinct alternative to the former state monopolies.

Best for: Best nationwide 100% renewable specialist

Official website See full facts
7.

aWATTar

aWATTar, founded in Vienna in 2015, sells the HOURLY tariff that resets the electricity price every hour based on the EPEX Spot day-ahead wholesale auction, producing 24 separate price windows a day. Sign-up and account management run entirely through its app, with no physical branches. It fits households with an EV, battery or heat pump that can shift usage to cheap hours, but its variable pricing carries more risk than a fixed-rate contract.

Best for: Best dynamic hourly tariff for EV and battery owners

Official website See full facts

How is Austria's electricity market structured?

Austria fully liberalized its household electricity market on 1 October 2001, ending the regional supply monopolies that had existed since the early 20th century. The national regulator, E-Control, was established the same year to oversee network tariffs and monitor competition between suppliers. Since liberalization, grid operation and electricity supply have been legally unbundled: a household's local grid operator delivers the power regardless of which supplier they choose, while the supplier bills for the energy itself. Each of Austria's nine federal states still has a former monopoly utility, such as Wien Energie in Vienna or EVN in Lower Austria, that remains the largest local supplier by customer count even though residents can now choose any licensed provider nationwide.

More than 150 electricity suppliers hold a license to sell to Austrian households, according to the market overview E-Control publishes for consumers. National players such as Verbund AG compete alongside regional incumbents and smaller challenger brands like oekostrom AG and aWATTar, which operate online-only and sell nationwide rather than in a single state.

What makes up the price on an Austrian electricity bill?

An Austrian electricity bill has three separate components. The first is the energy price itself, which is the only part that differs meaningfully between suppliers and is usually quoted in cents per kilowatt-hour. The second is the network charge (Netzentgelt), a regulated fee set by E-Control and paid to the local grid operator regardless of supplier choice. The third component covers taxes and levies, including the federal electricity duty (Elektrizitätsabgabe) and Austria's standard value-added tax rate of 20%, which applies to the combined energy and network charges.

Because the network charge and taxes are fixed by law and identical for every customer in a given grid area, switching suppliers only changes the energy price portion of the bill. This is why comparison tools such as E-Control's official Tarifkalkulator focus on the energy price and any sign-up bonus rather than the full bill total.

How green is electricity from Austrian providers?

Austria's electricity generation mix is dominated by hydropower, which is why national producers such as Verbund AG, founded in 1947, market their standard household tariffs as coming largely from run-of-river and storage hydropower plants on the Danube and Alpine rivers. Regional incumbents including EVN AG, Energie Steiermark and Energie AG Oberösterreich also operate their own hydropower, wind and photovoltaic assets, but their overall generation portfolios can include a smaller share of thermal or imported power depending on the year and weather conditions.

oekostrom AG, founded in 1999, positions itself differently: it is structured to supply only electricity certified as renewable, sourced from hydro, wind, solar and biomass plants, and it does not operate large hydropower stations of its own the way the former state monopolies do. Every Austrian supplier must disclose its generation mix on the annual electricity bill under the country's Stromkennzeichnung labeling rules, so customers can compare the certified renewable share of any two providers directly.

Fixed-price or dynamic hourly tariffs: which is better?

Most Austrian suppliers, including Verbund, Wien Energie, EVN and Energie Steiermark, sell annual or multi-year fixed-price contracts where the energy price per kilowatt-hour is locked in for the contract term, typically 12 months, and only changes if the supplier issues a formal price adjustment notice. This model suits households that want a predictable monthly bill and do not want to actively manage their consumption schedule.

aWATTar, launched in 2015, instead sells a dynamic tariff called HOURLY that resets the energy price every hour based on the EPEX day-ahead wholesale auction, giving customers 24 different price windows each day. This can lower costs for households with an electric vehicle, a home battery or a heat pump that can shift charging to cheaper overnight or midday hours, but it also exposes the customer to higher prices during expensive evening peaks.

How do I switch electricity providers in Austria?

  1. Compare energy prices, not the full bill

    Use E-Control's official Tarifkalkulator or check supplier websites to compare the energy price component only, since the network charge and taxes stay the same regardless of supplier. Focus on the price per kilowatt-hour and any annual base fee (Grundpreis).

  2. Sign the new contract before cancelling the old one

    Sign up with the new supplier first. Under Austria's Elektrizitätswirtschafts- und -organisationsgesetz (ElWOG), the new supplier is responsible for handling the cancellation of the old contract on the customer's behalf, so there is no need to give notice separately in most cases.

  3. Confirm the switch date and any notice period

    Existing fixed-term contracts typically run for 12 months and may include a notice period of up to 2 months before the renewal date; check the current contract to avoid an overlap or exit fee. Suppliers must complete the switch itself within three weeks of the request under Austrian and EU electricity market rules.

  4. Check whether a smart meter is required

    Dynamic hourly tariffs such as aWATTar's HOURLY plan require a smart meter that records consumption in 15-minute or hourly intervals. Grid operators have been rolling out smart meters to Austrian households since 2012, and customers without one yet can usually request installation from their local grid operator at no extra charge.

How is this ranking computed?

  • National availability & customer reach: 25%
  • Renewable energy sourcing: 20%
  • Tariff flexibility & price transparency: 20%
  • Additional services & digital tools: 15%
  • Company scale & financial stability: 20%

Entity references

Full factual profiles for each entity on this page:

Official sources

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