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Thinking of a prepayment meter? Ask your CPAS first

Since 2026 ORES uses the smart meter with a prepayment function as the standard prepayment meter. It is free for protected customers and when the CPAS supports the request, and an emergency credit starts when your balance runs out.

Wallonia · Subject to change

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Contracts & billsLevel 1 · HabitCost: FreeA few hours

A prepayment meter (the old compteur à budget) lets you pay for electricity or gas in advance and top up as you go. In the area of ORES, a Walloon grid operator, the smart meter with a prepayment function has been the standard meter for prepayment since 1 January 2026.

Whether you pay for it depends on why it is placed. It is free if you are a protected customer, if your supplier has declared you in payment default, if you move from a home that already had an active prepayment meter, or if your CPAS supports the request. If you ask for one on your own for any other reason, you pay the grid operator's current rate. So if you want a prepayment meter to keep your spending under control, go to your CPAS first: it can support your request and ask the grid operator to place the meter free of charge. When your supplier asks for prepayment because of unpaid bills, it does so after a reminder and a formal notice.

You top up and check your balance online, and you can also check it by phone or on the meter's display. When the balance runs out, an emergency credit starts automatically; once that is used up, the supply stops until you top up again. Protected customers keep a minimum supply of electricity for a limited time. Emergency credit and that minimum supply are not free: they become a debt to the grid operator, taken from your next top-ups.

ORES is not the only grid operator in Wallonia. If AIEG, AIESH, RESA or the Réseau d'Énergies de Wavre serves your home, check that operator's own rules on prepayment.

Details

ImpactIndirect · This saves no energy by itself: it is a rule, a service, a contract, or a health or safety item. How we rate impact
Estimated savingHelps you keep track of what you spend on energy; saves no energy by itself. (confidence: low)
Who actsYou (tenant)
Needs landlord's agreementNo
TypeRules explained

Do this together with

Sources

  1. Le compteur communicant à fonction de prépaiement (in French) · ORES (official source) · checked on
    Backs: from 1 January 2026 the smart meter is the standard meter for prepayment; placement or reactivation free for protected customers, customers declared in payment default by their supplier, requests supported by the CPAS and moves from a home with an active prepayment meter, otherwise paid; activation through the supplier after a reminder and formal notice; the CPAS can ask the grid operator for a free placement; top up and check the balance online, by phone or on the meter display; emergency credit when the balance runs out, then supply stops until the next top-up; emergency credit and use under the power limiter become a debt to ORES, recovered from later top-ups
    Where: intro and sections 'Dois-je payer le placement d'un compteur à prépaiement ?', 'Comment demander le placement d'un compteur à prépaiement ?', 'Comment demander l'activation d'un compteur à prépaiement ?', 'Comment consulter le solde du compteur ?' and 'Qu'est-ce que le crédit de secours ?'
  2. Le client protégé (in French) · CWaPE (official source) · checked on
    Backs: protected customers always get the prepayment meter installed free, keep a minimum electricity supply when they can no longer top up, and can ask the grid operator for help with gas in winter
    Where: section 'Avantages du statut client protégé'
  3. Transport et distribution d'électricité et de gaz (in French) · CWaPE (official source) · checked on
    Backs: Wallonia has several distribution grid operators besides ORES (AIEG, AIESH, RESA, Réseau d'Énergies de Wavre)
    Where: section 'Liste des GRD'

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