Electricity bill

Electricity settlement bill too high: what to do

Q: Do I have to pay a settlement bill I am disputing?

Pay the part you do not dispute and dispute the rest in writing before the due date, which in Wallonia cannot fall less than fifteen days after the bill is issued. According to the FPS Economy, the supplier must suspend collection of the disputed amounts. If you then refer the case to the federal Energy Ombudsman Service, collection of the disputed amounts is frozen while the case is handled; a complaint declared admissible by the CWaPE's Regional Energy Ombudsman Service also suspends recovery of the disputed bill. Do not simply leave the bill unpaid: if you do nothing, the reminder and formal-notice procedure runs its course.

Q: How do I dispute an electricity bill in Belgium?

Write to your supplier, by email or letter, quoting the invoice number, the EAN code, the disputed meter readings and what you are asking for; keep a copy, because both ombudsman services require this first written step. If the dispute concerns the reading or the meter, attach a dated photo of the meter: the distribution system operator corrects the data, and the supplier issues the new bill. In Wallonia, the supplier must explain its bill free of charge within five working days on simple request, and the non-payment procedure is suspended until it answers. Without a satisfactory reply, go to the federal ombudsman after ten days for a disputed bill, or to the CWaPE's regional service after twenty working days for a reading or a meter.

Q: Can I get a payment plan from my electricity supplier?

Yes, ask for one as soon as the bill arrives: in Wallonia, the electricity decree requires the supplier to invite a customer in payment difficulty to agree a reasonable payment plan. The right becomes formal at the formal notice, sent by registered post for a debt above 100 euros: if you propose a plan with the enclosed form, the supplier's silence for fifteen days counts as acceptance, and a refusal must be in writing with a counter-proposal. No fee may be charged for this plan. The CPAS or an accredited debt mediator can negotiate for you and have the procedure suspended for up to thirty days. There is, however, no automatic right triggered by the size of the settlement bill alone.

Q: What should I do if the meter reading on my bill is estimated?

Read your meter, photograph it with the date, and compare it with the closing reading on the statement. If the gap is large, contact your supplier or your distribution system operator: at ORES, readings are submitted through myORES or the Indexphone on 078/15.70.01. The Walloon technical regulation lets you ask for a new physical reading when the disputed reading came from the operator, free if it reveals an error, or send a new reading once per annual statement when it came from you. The corrected data go back to the supplier, which issues a new bill. If a formal notice concerns a debt based on an estimated reading, you can ask for a free reading.

Q: Which energy ombudsman should I contact in Wallonia?

It depends on what the complaint is about. The Regional Energy Ombudsman Service at the CWaPE handles meter readings and consumption, the meter, prepayment, distribution tariffs and disconnections; you can refer a case once a written step has gone unanswered for twenty working days, and no more than a year after that step. The federal Energy Ombudsman Service handles prices, the contract, and payment and refund of bills; it is free and can be contacted after ten days without an answer for a disputed bill. Neither service's recommendation is binding, but referring a case suspends recovery of the disputed amounts.

Q: Can my supplier bill me for more than two years of consumption?

In Wallonia, no, unless you are proven to have acted in bad faith. Since the decree of 25 April 2024, when readings have been estimated for several years, the correction and the resulting bill may only cover the twenty-four months before the last actual reading. The network operator spreads the consumption between the last two actual readings over the whole period, and only the share for the last twenty-four months can be billed. If the customer's bad faith is proven and the operator also failed in its reading obligations, the limit rises to five years. A correction in your favour can go back further.

Published on 29 October 2026 by Eric from OptimCE

An electricity settlement bill that seems too high is not always a mistake, but it should be checked before it is paid. The cause can usually be read on the bill itself, and remedies exist, from a simple email to the ombudsman.

This article does not repeat what is already on this site. “Read your Belgian electricity bill line by line” explains every document and every line; “Why your electricity bill stays high in Belgium” covers the structural causes, grid costs and taxes; “DSO vs supplier: who does what in Belgium?” says who to call for what.

The question here is the bill in your hands: is it right, and what can you do if it is not, or if you cannot pay it in one go? The rules described are Walloon; Brussels and Flanders are summarised at the end.

Reading the amount: statement, instalments, balance

The settlement bill, or annual statement, is a subtraction: your actual consumption between two meter readings, at your contract’s prices, grid costs and taxes included, minus the instalments paid over the same period. A positive balance is yours to pay; a negative one is refunded.

In Wallonia, the supplier must issue it “no later than sixty days” after the network operator sends the readings, and refund any overpayment “within thirty days” (Walloon Government order of 30 March 2006, article 7).

If a line puzzles you, ask for an explanation. The supplier must tell you “whether it is an actual or estimated bill and for which reading”, which tariffs it applied and how many kWh it counted, “free of charge and within five working days”. The non-payment procedure is suspended until it replies (same order, article 7bis).

Five causes to check, in order

The order runs from the quickest check to the longest: the first two take a few minutes, statement in hand, in front of the meter.

Cause	What you see on the statement	Who to contact
1. Estimated reading	the word “estimated” next to a reading	the distribution system operator (DSO)
2. Instalments too low	more actual kWh than the instalments covered	the supplier
3. Higher price	a kWh dearer than on the previous statement	the supplier, then a price comparison tool
4. Changed circumstances	more kWh, with no reading error	nobody: adjust your instalments
5. Plain error	an EAN, a meter or a period that is not yours	the supplier and the DSO

Assumptions: order of checks suggested by OptimCE; contacts according to the Walloon reading and billing rules cited in this article.

1. An estimated reading. If no reading took place, the DSO estimates it “on the basis of your consumption history” (ORES, in French). An estimate that was too low last year inflates this year’s settlement, which catches up the missing kWh in one go; an estimate that is too high this year makes you pay in advance. Read your meter today: if it shows less than the closing reading on the statement, that reading is overestimated.

2. Instalments too low. If your instalments were calculated on lower consumption than yours, the balance catches up. On our reference case:

	Consumption	Annual amount
Actual bill	3,500 kWh	≈ 1,475 €
Instalments set on lower consumption	3,000 kWh	≈ 1,264 €
Settlement balance	500 kWh	≈ 211 €

Assumptions: Walloon household using 3,500 kWh a year on a single-rate meter, average “all-in” price of 42.14 c€/kWh from the CREG’s September 2026 dashboard. Instalments are calculated at the same price on 3,000 kWh. The real balance is slightly lower, because the supplier’s fixed fee and the fixed part of grid costs do not depend on kWh.

In that case the balance is due; the correction is made on the next instalments.

3. A higher price. Compare the energy price per kWh with the previous statement. If it has risen, the cause is the contract: a variable price that followed the market, or a fixed contract that expired and was renewed at another price. A price that matches the contract cannot be disputed; it can be compared, as “Which electricity tariff to choose in Belgium?” explains.

4. Changed circumstances. Heat pump, electric car, a new occupant, home working, a faulty appliance: consumption has gone up and the bill is right. Adjust your instalments so that the gap does not come back.

5. A plain error. Check the EAN code, the meter number and the billing period. In a block of flats, an EAN swapped with a neighbour’s makes you pay for their consumption; our guide “Belgian EAN code: where to find it, what it’s for” explains how to check it. After a move, the new occupant “cannot be assigned consumption prior to moving in” (technical regulation for the management of electricity distribution grids in Wallonia, article V.76, § 4): the reading on the handover document is what counts.

Estimated reading: have the DSO correct it

In Wallonia, the distribution system operator reads the meters, validates the readings you send it and passes the data to the supplier, which bills what it receives. So the DSO corrects a reading; the supplier then redoes the bill. If you do not know who runs your grid, the “Find my DSO” tool finds it from your postcode, and the list by municipality covers all 565 Belgian municipalities.

The Walloon technical regulation offers two routes (article V.76, unchanged in the version approved by the CWaPE on 27 August 2026):

if the disputed reading came from the DSO, ask for a new physical reading: free if it reveals an error, otherwise charged at the tariff approved by the CWaPE;
if the reading came from you, send a new one, “only once per annual statement”, with “any supporting evidence”: a dated photo of the meter.

At ORES, a technician “comes every two years” to read electromechanical meters; in the other years you submit your reading through myORES or the Indexphone on 078/15.70.01. If the reading looks wrong, ORES advises contacting your supplier first; the corrected data are then “sent to your energy supplier so that it can issue a new invoice” (ORES, in French). The other Walloon DSOs apply the same technical regulation.

The twenty-four-month limit

After several years of estimated readings, the first actual reading can reveal a large catch-up. Since the decree of 25 April 2024 it is capped: unless the customer’s bad faith is proven, the correction and the resulting bill “may not relate to a period of more than twenty-four months before the last actual meter reading”. The DSO spreads the kWh between the last two actual readings over the whole period, and “only the consumption corresponding to the last twenty-four months may be billed” (Walloon electricity decree, article 34, § 1, 2°).

The limit rises to five years if the customer’s bad faith is proven and the DSO also failed in its reading obligations. The technical regulation cites, among other things, deliberately refusing access to the meter and deliberately wrong readings (article V.77, § 2). A correction in your favour is not limited to twenty-four months.

Disputing the bill with the supplier: deadlines and form

Everything starts with a written message to the supplier: it is the condition for going to an ombudsman later.

The form. An email to customer service or a letter is enough. Give the invoice number, your EAN code, the disputed reading and the reading you see, what you are asking for (a new bill, a new instalment, a payment plan), and attach the photo of the meter. Keep a copy: both ombudsman services will ask for it.

The deadlines. The bill cannot fall due less than “fifteen days from its issue” (Walloon electricity decree, article 33bis/1). Dispute it before that date. According to the FPS Economy, when there is a complaint, “the energy supplier must suspend collection of the disputed amounts” (FPS Economy, in French). Pay the undisputed part: you avoid a non-payment procedure on the full amount.

If you have already paid. The Walloon decree provides compensation equal to one month’s instalment when the supplier fails to handle, within thirty days, a complaint sent by registered post about a paid bill, or when it acknowledges the error but neither sends a corrected bill nor refunds within thirty days. The claim is made by registered post, within thirty days of the deadline being missed (Walloon electricity decree, article 31ter; CWaPE, in French).

Paying in instalments: your rights

First, what does not exist: in Wallonia, no rule gives you an automatic right to a payment plan because the settlement bill exceeds a given amount. The right is built in two stages.

Ask straight away. The decree requires the supplier to apply the prescribed measures when a customer is in payment difficulty, “in particular to invite the customer to contact it in order to agree […] a reasonable payment plan” (Walloon electricity decree, article 34bis, 4°). Call or write as soon as the bill arrives, with a figure: how much a month, over how many months. The earlier you ask, the simpler it is.

If the bill stays unpaid, the procedure protects you. It follows steps set by the decree and by the order of 30 March 2006:

Step	Minimum period	Maximum fee	What you can do
Bill due date	15 days after issue	none	ask for an explanation, dispute, propose a plan
Reminder	14 days	7.50 €	propose a plan, contact the CPAS
Formal notice by registered post, if the debt exceeds 100 €	15 days	15 €	propose a plan on the form; ask for a free reading if the debt rests on an estimated reading
Notice of payment default	30 days, plus 30 at the CPAS’s request	cap of 55 € a year	choose: plan, CPAS, ombudsman, debt mediation, prepayment or justice of the peace
Prepayment or justice of the peace	activation within 40 days at most	no further reminder fees	refuse prepayment, defend yourself before the judge

Assumptions: Walloon rules as at 29 October 2026 (Walloon electricity decree, article 33bis/1; order of 30 March 2006, articles 29 to 31bis). The fourteen-day reminder period comes from the decree of 19 December 2025; the 2006 order and some SPW pages still say ten days. Fees are only due if the contract provides for them and the letters are sent by post.

A “reasonable” plan “takes account of the interests and situations of both parties” and “actually enables the customer to clear the debt in full” (order of 30 March 2006, article 30bis). Three rules make it workable:

silence means yes: if you propose a plan with the formal-notice form, the supplier’s failure to react within fifteen days “means […] acceptance of the plan”; a refusal must be in writing, with a counter-proposal;
the supplier must propose: if you made no proposal, it sends you a plan within ten days;
the plan is free: “no fee may be charged for a reasonable payment plan”, and any penalty clause is prohibited (article 30ter).

An agreed plan, at any stage, suspends the procedure (Walloon electricity decree, article 33bis/1); if it is not kept, the procedure resumes. Disconnection is no longer possible without the justice of the peace, and never during the winter period, “between 1 November and 31 March” (Walloon electricity decree, articles 2, 58°, and 33bis/4). Even after a judgment, if you live at the supply address, disconnection may only take place one month after the judgment is served (article 33bis/1).

The ombudsman services and the CPAS

If the supplier or the DSO does not reply, or replies badly, two ombudsman services can take the case: the regional one for the meter and the grid, the federal one for the price and the contract.

	Regional Energy Ombudsman Service (CWaPE)	Energy Ombudsman Service (federal)
Scope	readings and consumption, meter, prepayment, distribution tariffs, disconnections	price, contract, payment and refund of bills
When to refer	20 working days after your unanswered letter; immediately if disconnection is imminent	10 days after your unanswered letter, for a disputed bill
Time limit	last step with the company less than a year old	may refuse if the complaint to the company is over a year old
Effect on recovery	suspended for the disputed bill once the complaint is admissible	collection of disputed amounts frozen while the case is handled

Assumptions: both services’ websites and the order of 30 March 2006, article 37ter, as at 29 October 2026. Neither recommendation is binding. The federal service describes itself as “entirely free”; the CWaPE page says nothing about fees.

The regional service takes complaints by online form, by post or at srme@cwape.be, with a copy of your first letter (CWaPE, in French). During a non-payment procedure you can contest the procedure itself there, including activation of prepayment; if the service overruns its deadlines, that “does not authorise” the supplier to resume recovery (order of 30 March 2006, article 37ter).

The federal service acknowledges receipt within three weeks, then has 90 calendar days, which can be extended, to handle the case (Energy Ombudsman Service, in French).

The CPAS, the public social welfare centre, works alongside, not afterwards. It can negotiate the plan on your behalf and have the procedure suspended for up to thirty days; the supplier must give reasons if it rejects the CPAS’s proposal (order of 30 March 2006, article 30bis). When you are declared in default, your contact details are passed to it within ten days unless you object within five days (Walloon electricity decree, article 33bis/1). The support it can unlock, regional protected-customer status and the Local Energy Commission are described in “Energy poverty in Wallonia: available support”.

Avoiding the next nasty surprise

Adjust your instalments. The decree requires the supplier to adapt your instalment invoices “on the basis of the readings taken by the customer and validated by the distribution system operator”, smoothing consumption over twelve months (Walloon electricity decree, article 34bis, 4°). Ask it to recalculate the instalment on your actual consumption. If the supplier proposes an adjustment itself, it must give reasons, and according to the FPS Economy it may only charge it if you do not object within fifteen days (FPS Economy, in French).

Read your meter. Send your readings to your DSO, up to once a quarter: it must validate them and pass them to the supplier, in particular to adjust instalments (Walloon electricity decree, article 34, § 1, 2°). With a smart meter, readings are taken remotely and a monthly statement replaces the instalments, as our guide to reading the bill explains.

Compare your price. If the price was the cause, the contract is the fix: the energy component is the only block of the bill that changes from one supplier to another. “Reduce your electricity bill: Wallonia 2026” and “Cheaper electricity without switching supplier” set out the options.

And energy sharing? An energy community sells its members part of their electricity at a local price, often steadier than the market. That reduces the energy component of future bills, on the shared kWh only: grid costs, taxes and levies are still billed on the whole volume. It changes nothing to a settlement bill already due. The orders of magnitude are in “Reduce your electricity bill: energy communities”.

Brussels and Flanders

In Brussels, BRUGEL describes a similar procedure: a reminder within fifteen days of the due date, a formal notice fifteen days after the reminder, and collection fees capped at 55 € per procedure. Disconnection requires the authorisation of a justice of the peace, and the winter truce runs from 1 October to 31 March (BRUGEL, in French). Brussels protected-customer status can be requested after a formal notice; BRUGEL’s Dispute Service handles regional complaints (Dispute Service).

In Flanders, a formal notice (ingebrekestelling) follows if the bill is still unpaid fifteen days after the reminder. A payment plan (afbetalingsplan) can be agreed with the supplier, the OCMW or an accredited debt mediator. Otherwise the supplier can terminate with 45 days’ notice; with no new supplier, Fluvius takes over and activates prepayment on the digital meter, with 75 € of emergency credit, then power limited to 10 amps. Disconnections are banned from 1 December to 1 April (Vlaanderen.be, in Dutch). The federal ombudsman remains competent for complaints about price and contract in all three regions.

Key takeaways

Check in order: estimated reading, instalments too low, higher price, changed circumstances, EAN or period error.
A reading is corrected by the DSO, a price by the supplier; a dated photo of the meter is your best evidence.
A catch-up after estimated readings is capped at twenty-four months in Wallonia, unless bad faith is proven.
Dispute in writing before the due date and pay the undisputed part.
Ask for a payment plan straight away; at the formal notice it becomes a framed, free right.
No disconnection without a justice of the peace, nor between 1 November and 31 March; regional ombudsman for the meter, federal for the price.

Find your grid operator

To have a reading corrected, the DSO is the one to contact. Enter your postcode: OptimCE’s free tool shows your electricity and gas DSO, in all 565 Belgian municipalities.

Find my DSO →

FAQ

Do I have to pay a settlement bill I am disputing?

Pay the undisputed part and dispute the rest in writing before the due date. The supplier must suspend collection of the disputed amounts, and referring the case to an ombudsman freezes recovery while it is examined. Do not leave the bill unpaid without reacting: the reminder procedure would run its course.

How do I dispute an electricity bill in Belgium?

Write to the supplier with the invoice number, the EAN code, the disputed reading and a dated photo of the meter, and keep a copy. Without a reply, go to the federal ombudsman after ten days for the bill, or to the CWaPE’s regional service after twenty working days for the reading.

Can I get a payment plan from my electricity supplier?

Yes. Ask as soon as the bill arrives: the supplier must invite a customer in difficulty to agree a reasonable plan. At the formal notice, your proposal is accepted if the supplier does not reply within fifteen days, and the plan cannot cost anything.

What should I do if the meter reading on my bill is estimated?

Read the meter, photograph it and compare with the statement. Ask the supplier or the DSO for a correction: a new physical reading, free if it reveals an error, or a new reading sent once per statement. The supplier then redoes the bill.

Which energy ombudsman should I contact in Wallonia?

The CWaPE’s regional service for the reading, the meter, prepayment and disconnections; the federal Energy Ombudsman Service for the price, the contract and payment. In both cases, after a first written step with the company less than a year old.

Can my supplier bill me for more than two years of consumption?

Not in Wallonia, unless bad faith is proven: after several years of estimated readings, only the consumption of the twenty-four months before the last actual reading can be billed. A correction in your favour can go back further.

Sources

Wallex — Decree of 12 April 2001 on the organisation of the regional electricity market, consolidated version (in French) — article 2, 58° (winter period from 1 November to 31 March), article 31ter (compensation for billing errors), article 33bis/1 (fifteen-day due date, fourteen-day reminder since the decree of 19 December 2025, formal notice, reasonable payment plan, form, transmission to the CPAS, suspension of the procedure, disconnection one month after the judgment is served), article 33bis/4 (no disconnection in the winter period), article 34, § 1, 2° (validation and transmission of customer readings, twenty-four-month and five-year correction limits introduced by the decree of 25 April 2024), article 34bis, § 1, 4° (invitation to agree a reasonable payment plan, adjustment of instalments smoothed over twelve months). Checked on 29 October 2026.
Wallex — Walloon Government order of 30 March 2006 on public service obligations in the electricity market (in French) — article 7 (sixty-day deadline for the statement, refund within thirty days), article 7bis (explanation within five working days, suspension of the procedure), articles 29 to 31bis (reminder, formal notice above 100 €, free reading for an estimated reading, reasonable payment plan, fees capped at 7.50 €, 15 € and 55 € a year, payment default, prepayment activated within forty days at most), article 37ter (recovery suspended during regional mediation). Checked on 29 October 2026.
CWaPE — Decision CD-26h27-CWaPE-1284 approving the technical regulation for the management of electricity distribution grids in Wallonia (in French) — articles V.76 (disputing a reading, new physical reading, new reading once per statement, moving house) and V.77 (correction, cases of bad faith), identical to the version in force. Document dated 27 August 2026, checked on 29 October 2026.
CWaPE — Regional Energy Ombudsman Service: mediation (in French) — prior written step, twenty working days, urgent cases, filing a complaint, regional and federal remits, non-binding recommendation, one-year limit. CWaPE — Compensation (in French) — compensation procedure. Checked on 29 October 2026.
Energy Ombudsman Service — FAQ (in French) — free of charge, five- or ten-day wait, acknowledgement within three weeks, 90-day handling, collection of disputed amounts frozen, non-binding recommendation, possible refusal after one year. Undated page, checked on 29 October 2026.
FPS Economy — A problem with your energy contract? Solutions exist (in French) — reasoned adjustment of instalments, objection within fifteen days, suspension of collection of disputed amounts. News item of 18 May 2022, checked on 29 October 2026.
ORES — Readings and consumption (in French) — electromechanical meters read every two years, myORES and Indexphone (078/15.70.01), estimates based on consumption history, corrected data sent to the supplier. Checked on 29 October 2026.
CREG — Monthly electricity and natural gas dashboard, September 2026 (in French) — average “all-in” price for a Walloon household using 3,500 kWh on a single-rate meter, 1,474.73 € a year. Checked on 29 October 2026.
BRUGEL — When to apply for protected-customer status? (in French) and BRUGEL Dispute Service — Brussels recovery procedure, fees capped at 55 €, justice of the peace, winter truce, protected-customer status. Checked on 29 October 2026.
Vlaanderen.be — What if you do not pay your electricity and gas bill? (in Dutch) — Flemish procedure, payment plan, 45 days’ notice, prepayment at Fluvius, 75 € emergency credit, 10 amps, no disconnection from 1 December to 1 April. Checked on 29 October 2026.