Austria’s New Electricity Act Unlocking flexibility: active customers, energy sharing and direct lines (3/3)

Austria’s energy landscape is on the verge of a significant transformation: On December 11, 2025, the Austrian Parliament passed the 'Cheaper Electricity Act', which (also) includes a revised version of the new Electricity Act (Elektrizitätswirtschaftsgesetz – ElWG). The ElWG is set to replace the outdated Electricity Act 2010 and constitutes a strategic shift in the regulatory framework of the Austrian energy market. It introduces a modern regulatory framework designed to foster a competitive, consumer-centric, and decarbonized energy market. As set out in blog posts 1 and 2, the ElWG will have significant implications for grid operators (Netzbetreiber), producers (Stromerzeuger) and suppliers (Lieferanten). This blog post is the third post in the three-part series. It breaks down new flexibility mechanisms anchored in the ElWG that are particularly relevant for businesses and industries. 

Active customer: from passive consumer to active market player 

The ElWG fundamentally changes the role of customers in the electricity market. Instead of being mere consumers, households and other end users, such as companies and industries, are recognized as 'active customers' and genuine market players. An active customer is an end customer (or a group of end customers acting together) who consumes, stores, or sells self-produced or jointly-produced renewable electricity, or participates in flexibility or energy efficiency programs, provided these activities do not constitute their primary commercial or professional activity. Active customers enjoy several rights under the new ElWG, including the right to generate electricity, and to consume, store, and sell self-generated electricity, to operate electricity generation and energy storage facilities, to purchase electricity via direct lines, or to share energy with others ('energy sharing').

Being classified as an active customer has a key advantage: Active customers who engage in energy sharing are not considered suppliers, and are exempt from supplier obligations under the ElWG, provided certain power thresholds are not exceeded. Specifically, supplier obligations do not apply to households with generation facilities up to 30 kW, or to other active customers (such as businesses) or energy communities with facilities up to 100 kW. This allows individuals and businesses to participate in the energy market without becoming fully-fledged energy companies and taking on the associated regulatory responsibilities. If the above thresholds are exceeded, limited supplier obligations apply: These include, among others, the duty to (i) provide general terms and conditions, (ii) inform participants about contract changes, and (iii) issue proper invoices. 

To reduce the complexity, active customers may appoint an 'organizer'. This can be a natural or legal person who assumes certain tasks, such as communication with other market participants, concluding contracts with active customers who participate in shared energy use, or installation and operation of power generation facilities or energy storage facilities. Crucially, if an organizer is appointed, they can assume the limited supplier obligations for participants who do exceed the 30/100 kW thresholds, again allowing for participation in the market without the full regulatory responsibilities of an energy company. 

Energy sharing: two models 

The proposed ElWG introduces the concept of 'energy sharing' and provides a comprehensive regulatory framework for energy sharing, creating new, flexible opportunities for businesses to produce, consume, and trade renewable energy directly with one another. 

Energy sharing allows multiple actors to share, consume, or store self-generated renewable energy among themselves. The ElWG provides for two models of energy sharing: Actors who wish to engage in energy sharing may do so by establishing a legal entity (the corporate model), or on a contractual basis (the contractual model). The corporate model is essentially based on the Electricity Act 2010, which already allowed for the establishment of Renewable Energy Communities and Citizen Energy Communities to engage in energy sharing. Contractual energy sharing, on the contrary, was limited to ‘communal generation facilities’ under the Electricity Act 2010. The latter were restricted to a single property, as the generated energy could only be shared via the property’s internal main line, and could not be transmitted through the public grid. The new regulatory framework of the ElWG considerably broadens the scope for contractual energy sharing by introducing peer-to-peer (P2P) contracts. P2P contracts are agreements for the sale or gift of renewable electricity directly between market participants. Sharing energy through P2P contracts will be possible within the bidding zone, i.e., within all of Austria. The ElWG thus considerably broadens the geographic scope of contractual energy sharing. 

Companies that engage in energy sharing still require a standard electricity supply contract. Such a contract ensures that active customers remain part of a balancing group for grid stability, and it covers any residual electricity demand that isn't met through the sharing arrangement. Also, there are power limits: Large companies participating as active customers in energy sharing can only do so with a capacity of up to 6 MW. The same 6 MW limit applies to organizers or third parties who own or operate a generation or storage facility, but do not use it themselves.

A significant new flexibility introduced by the ElWG is that active customers and energy communities can participate in up to five different energy sharing models simultaneously with a single generation or consumption facility. This allows for a much more granular and flexible optimization of energy flows, for example, by participating in a local community for baseload and a regional P2P market for surplus power.

Direct line: a new era for industrial power supply 

A direct line is a private power line connecting a generation site directly to a consumer, bypassing the public grid. Direct lines have numerous advantages, most importantly, electricity transmitted over a direct line is not subject to system usage charges. This can lead to substantial cost savings, especially for energy-intensive businesses. 

Under the Electricity Act 2010, the practical use of direct lines in Austria was hampered by a restrictive interpretation of corresponding legal rules: According to the Supreme Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof), a direct line excluded any direct or indirect exchange between the direct line and the public grid. It was thus impossible to feed surplus power into the public grid, or to use grid power for backup during a plant’s downtime, rendering the model impractical, especially for volatile renewables. 

The new ElWG fundamentally liberalizes the rules for direct lines, making them a viable and attractive option for businesses and industries: The draft law explicitly clarifies that a connection to the public grid does not mean a setup cannot be considered a direct line, provided technical measures are in place to prevent unwanted power flows. Also, it is permissible under ElWG to use the direct line to feed surplus electricity into the public grid, and to transport electricity purchased from the grid to the plant. Remarkably, the ElWG also allows the metering point for electricity feed-in to be assigned to a third party, such as the operator of the power plant. It thus creates a solid legal foundation for direct-wire Power Purchase Agreements: A developer can build and operate a plant to supply an (industrial) customer, and independently manage the sale of surplus power. These new regulations offer companies and entire industries a significant increase in flexibility.

Opportunities and challenges for businesses: a practical outlook 

• New business models: New market roles and flexibility mechanisms in the ElWG give rise to new business models. The role as an active customer allows businesses to sell surplus renewable energy to other businesses, for example, through P2P contracts, thereby creating new revenue streams. The revised framework on direct lines makes direct-wire Power-Purchase-Agreements more attractive – energy developers can now build renewable energy projects to supply industrial customers directly, with the assurance that they can legally and efficiently sell surplus power to the grid.
• Increased energy independence: By generating and consuming their own renewable energy, businesses can significantly reduce their dependence on volatile wholesale energy markets – a key goal of the reform. Direct lines and long-term P2P contracts offer price stability and predictability, and may contribute to budget security.
• Direct lines for cost savings: By sourcing electricity directly from a producer via a direct line, companies can bypass grid fees and reduce their exposure to volatile wholesale market prices. This option could prove especially valuable for energy-intensive industries seeking long-term cost predictability.
• Sustainability: The new rules make it easier for businesses to invest in and produce renewable energy directly and may help businesses in achieving their corporate sustainability and ESG targets.
• Navigating regulatory complexity: While the ElWG liberalizes the market, it also introduces a complex framework with new roles, models, and rules. To successfully leverage these opportunities, businesses, organisations and industries will need a solid understanding of the legal and technical requirements, which will probably require expert legal and technical advice.