No electricity

Vienna grids were not allowed to help the family out

Without electricity, there was no bottle for Mrs. S.'s baby. However, Wiener Netze was not to blame for the messy situation.(Bild: zVg)

A young Viennese mother, her baby and his sibling recently had to cope in their new apartment without electricity. Her anger at Wiener Netze was correspondingly high. In this case, however, the anger was directed at the wrong people.

Sabine S. recently turned to the "Krone" newspaper, both desperate and outraged: She was sitting in her new apartment with her two children, one of whom was a small baby, and despite having a contract with an energy supplier, there was no electricity - and therefore no sterilized bottle, no boiled water for his food and no electricity for an inhaler needed after a Covid infection.

Emergency power only with a doctor's certificate
Ms S's anger at Wiener Netze was correspondingly high when they told her on the phone that she needed a doctor's certificate confirming an emergency, otherwise the electricity could not be switched on as an emergency measure. Emergency power would have been the only solution, as Ms. S. had only reregistered her electricity contract at the last moment before the move. However, Wiener Netze actually had no other option in this case, as their hands are tied in such situations. 

We are only allowed to disconnect meters once the contract with the energy supplier has been registered by the supplier.

Aus der Stellungnahme der Wiener Netze

Wiener Netze itself must fear sanctions
Wiener Netze is even legally obliged to activate meters only when an energy supplier registers a contract with all customer data on the energy industry platform. The fact that customers already have a signed contract in their hands does not help. If Wiener Netze were to turn on the electricity without the green light from the energy industry platform, this would result in sanctions for the company.

Appeal to customers to pay attention to contracts
The reason for the strict regulation: unmanaged energy supplies should be rigorously prevented, as otherwise the general public would have to bear the costs. According to Wiener Netze, it has repeatedly experienced unpleasant situations due to late contract notifications. They are therefore appealing to customers to take care of their contracts "as early as possible".

Customers are also advised to pay close attention to the accuracy and completeness of all data in their electricity contracts, as errors can also prevent Wiener Netze from obtaining the "license to activate", which can often lead to delays. In the case of Ms. S., help at least came quickly: as soon as Wiener Netze had the green light from her energy supplier, her smart meter was immediately activated remotely.