Complaint against Netz NÖ

Smart meter rebels now sound the counterattack

Lawyer Gottfried Forsthuber stands up for the "fans" of the old Ferraris meter (left) and against the installation of the smart meter (right).

(Bild: Privat)

Lawyer Gottfried Forsthuber accuses the state-wide network operator Netz NÖ of "vigilante justice". On behalf of 17 clients, he has now filed criminal charges against the company and its two managing directors with three public prosecutors' offices in the state. In return, the company refers to the conditions imposed by the regulatory authority.

In July, the decision by the St. Pölten Regional Court to ask the European Court of Justice to clarify the EU Electricity Grid Directive was celebrated as an interim victory for the smart meter rebels. Together with client Roswita Vizvary, Baden-based lawyer Gottfried Forsthuber believed that he had created a suspensive effect in all smart meter proceedings until the directive had been defined more precisely.

"Vigilante justice" and 840,000 smart meters
Although the court case is pending, "Netz NÖ" was not impressed, so the company also wants to go through with these installations for the last 200 customers - 840,000 smart meters have been installed in Lower Austria over the past four years. Forsthuber, who represents around 20 cases and knows of 70 in the province, calls this "vigilante justice".

"A case like this should never happen in Austria! During ongoing proceedings and an upright contractual relationship, a monopolist brutally exploits its supremacy with aggressive means. Or what do you call it when someone threatens to turn off the electricity to an otherwise unheatable apartment shortly before the start of the heating season?" Forsthuber demands justice and filed criminal charges against "Netz NÖ" and the managing directors Hengst and Dammerer with the public prosecutor's offices in St. Pölten, Krems and Wiener Neustadt on behalf of 17 affected parties.

Conditions of the regulatory authority...
A criminal complaint has not yet been filed, according to the grid operator. "The regulatory authority stipulates in its distribution network conditions that the contractual relationship can be terminated after a two-stage dunning procedure and thus network access can be denied," explains a spokesperson from "Netz NÖ". They also emphasize that they have installed the smart meter in 99.98% of customers in accordance with the law.