28/10/2025

For the fourth consecutive year, ERSE – the Energy Services Regulatory Authority – joined forces with the National Republican Guard (GNR) for Operation Senior Census 2025, participating on 23 October in awareness-raising activities in the parishes of Cernache, Espinhal and Lousã, in the district of Coimbra.

This community policing initiative enabled GNR officers and ERSE teams to contact around fifteen elderly people living alone or in remote areas.

The aim is to raise awareness among this more vulnerable population of self-protection behaviours and reinforce their sense of security. In the energy sector, ERSE has warned of poor energy contract practices and informed the elderly about issues such as social tariffs and additional services that can increase electricity bills.

The two actions were carried out by GNR detachments in Coimbra and Lousã. They involved distributing information materials, including a notepad containing ERSE alerts and GNR advice, as well as a dynamo torch for use during power outages.

The GNR's Senior Census 2025 operation has been running across the country since 1 October this year, with an expected end date of 16 November 2025. The initiative includes patrols and awareness-raising activities aimed at the 42,873 elderly individuals identified across the country.

The cooperation protocol between ERSE and the GNR, signed in 2021, aims to develop joint actions and initiatives to combat energy illiteracy and identify abusive or unfair practices by energy market agents towards consumers, particularly the most vulnerable.