Grid tariffs from 2027 confirmed: what is changing for heat pumps

Since 12 October 2026, the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt) sets out the rules by which electricity grid operators will bill from 1 January 2027. E-Control has published the Systemnutzungsentgelte-Grundsatzverordnung (SNE-G-V, basic regulation on system utilisation charges) as BGBl. II No. 299/2026. For you as a heat pump owner, this means: in future, it won't just be the number of kilowatt hours you draw throughout the year that counts, but also how high your monthly peak load is. The specific prices will only be released with the tariff regulation, but the model itself has now been decided.

What the regulation covers

The grid usage fee consists of a capacity charge and an energy consumption charge. According to the regulation, the capacity component will gradually be given more weight. The capacity charge is determined by the highest 15-minute value measured by your meter in the given month.

For households in the low-voltage grid (grid level 7), there are two price tiers: one for capacity up to 10 kW and one for anything above that. A minimum of 2 kW is charged. Until 30 November 2027, however, a transitional phase with a uniform monthly capacity charge applies, and this period can still be postponed by regulation.

Cheaper time windows

From April to September, a cheaper summer energy consumption price (SNAP) applies between 10:00 and 16:00. The winter window (WiNAP) is new: from October to March, between 23:00 and 05:00. Important for the heating season: WiNAP only applies from 1 October 2027, so not yet during the coming winter. Both windows require your meter to supply 15-minute values.

For existing connections

For household grid connections installed before 2027, the grid operator will apply the highest of three values: 10 kW, the capacity contractually agreed by the end of 2026, or the average of the two highest monthly peaks in 2026.

If you have a separate interruptible connection for your heat pump, a special rule remains: the tariff regulation sets separate prices for such connections, and the regular model will only apply to them from 1 January 2030.

Flexible consumption as an option

Anyone who commits to throttling part of their power demand during times of high grid load can receive a dedicated, cheaper capacity charge. Power is throttled by at least 4 kW, in the household grid during two set periods of two hours per day. The grid operator must offer this on request, at the latest from 1 October 2027. The agreement generally runs for ten years. For a heat pump in a well-insulated house or with a buffer storage cylinder, this can work well because brief pauses are hardly noticeable.

What you can do now

• Check whether your meter is already transmitting 15-minute values. Without these data, neither SNAP nor WiNAP is available.
• Check your grid operator portal to see how high your peak loads are. If the immersion heater runs at the same time as EV charging and the electric cooker, this will drive up your peak.
• If you have an interruptible heat pump tariff, keep it for now. Separate prices apply to these until 2030.
• Wait for the tariff regulation with the exact prices before changing how you operate. With the calculator, you can roughly estimate your annual consumption.

As soon as the prices are published, we will calculate what this means for typical detached homes.