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Wallonia changed its off-peak hours in 2026: has your home caught up?

Since 1 January 2026, the Walloon two-rate tariff has new daytime off-peak hours and no longer treats the whole weekend as off-peak, so here is what to check at home.

This article is about Wallonia. The rules in Flanders and Brussels are different.

If you have a two-rate (bihoraire) meter, you pay two different prices for electricity: one for peak hours (heures pleines on your bill) and a lower one for off-peak hours (heures creuses). On 1 January 2026, these hours changed across Wallonia. Many households have kept their old habits, such as running the machines on Saturday. That is no longer always the right moment.

What changed on 1 January 2026

According to CWaPE, the Walloon energy regulator, the new two-rate hours are:

  • off-peak: 11:00 to 17:00 and 22:00 to 07:00;
  • peak: 07:00 to 11:00 and 17:00 to 22:00;
  • the same hours 7 days a week. The weekend is no longer entirely off-peak.

Before 2026, off-peak was generally weekday nights plus the whole weekend. The network operator ORES now counts 105 off-peak hours per week, against 93 in 2025. The change is automatic: you do not need to do anything, whether your meter is an old (electromechanical) one or a communicating one, meaning a digital meter that sends its readings remotely.

These hours apply to the "network" part of your bill, which is the cost of carrying electricity to your home. In the 2026 tariffs of both ORES and RESA, the off-peak network rate costs less than half the peak rate. The price of the energy itself depends on your supplier and your contract.

Situations that need attention

  • Weekends. CWaPE specifically warns people on the social tariff and people with a prepayment meter: Saturday and Sunday now follow the same hours as weekdays.
  • An electric water heater or storage heaters. According to ORES, some appliances align automatically with the new off-peak hours. Others have their own clock or timer. If yours still heats only at night, it does not use the 11:00 to 17:00 slot.
  • A communicating meter with its communication switched off. People who asked for this are contacted by their network operator, because the change requires a visit in their case (CWaPE).
  • With ORES, a communicating meter that did not communicate for technical reasons and was not replaced before 2026 switches to the single-rate tariff, meaning one price. A budget meter with prepayment switched off keeps the 2025 hours until it is replaced, or until you use a card that you request from ORES.
  • An exclusive night meter, a separate meter for certain appliances such as heating. Its hours vary by place and installation, usually 22:00 to 07:00 or 23:00 to 08:00 (ORES). Ask your network operator for yours.

And if you have solar panels?

For an installation certified before 1 January 2024, compensation (the meter that "runs backwards") continues until 31 December 2030, also with a communicating meter. It covers only the energy part of the bill, not network costs (CWaPE).

Since 2026 there is also an optional network tariff, the Impact tariff, with three time slots: ECO (11:00 to 17:00 and 01:00 to 07:00), MEDIUM, and PIC (17:00 to 22:00). It requires an active communicating meter, and you request it through your supplier. Be careful: according to ORES, whether you keep your compensation then depends on your supplier's offer. Get this confirmed in writing before you switch.

Check this yourself

  • Your annual bill (facture de régularisation): if it splits peak and off-peak use (sometimes "day" and "night"), you are on the two-rate tariff.
  • Your network operator: it is named on your bill. In Wallonia it is AIEG, AIESH, ORES, RESA or REW.
  • Your programmable appliances: washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer. Can they start between 11:00 and 17:00 or after 22:00?
  • Your water heater's clock: does it still heat only at night? If you do not know how to set it, ask your installer.
  • Your weekend habits: on Saturday and Sunday, 07:00 to 11:00 and 17:00 to 22:00 are now peak hours.

Before you decide

The two-rate tariff is not worthwhile for everyone: it depends on how much of your use you can move to off-peak hours. ORES offers a simulator on its two-rate page and gives an indicative example of a family with an electric water heater saving about €180 a year on distribution costs. That is an example, not a promise for your home. To change tariff (single-rate, two-rate or Impact), you go through your supplier.

Would you like an independent look at your meter, bills and equipment before you change anything? Tell us about your home.