Those who pay for their energy in Switzerland will be subject to widespread changes, under reforms due to be implemented in the next year. Here’s what you need to know about the changes to energy bills, and how they could lead to lower costs.
The story starts on June 9, 2024, when Swiss citizens approved an amendment to the Swiss Energy and Electricity Supply Acts at referendum. Alongside providing more funding for renewable energy projects and hydroelectric dams, the law also seeks to reform how households are charged for energy.
Under the current system, users are charged two different rates for electricity. The “high” electricity tariff is charged for energy use during peak hours and weekdays, while the cheaper “low” tariff is typically charged for energy use during off-peak hours like late at night or at weekends.
This means that, unlike nations in the EU, people in Switzerland are not charged flexibly or rewarded if they use utilities when consumption is low. Thanks to the approved law, this is set to change.
From January 1, 2026, energy providers in Switzerland will be allowed to charge customers a “dynamic or time variable tariff”. Initially, this will apply for grid usage only, which typically makes up half of total energy bills.
With this system, electricity will become cheaper to use when a lot of energy is available and become more expensive when energy is in short supply. This will give households “incentives to adjust their electricity consumption to the grid load and thus relieve the strain on the electricity grid," the Federal Council wrote.
For instance, the government wants to encourage people to avoid charging electric vehicles and using energy-intensive appliances like washing machines during periods of high energy use. "This strengthens the polluter pays principle and can also reduce the need for grid expansion in the medium to long term."
While the change will likely lead to lower bills for those who are careful with their energy use, several parts of the reform remain to be disclosed. For instance, it is unclear whether the change will make the installation of smart electricity meters mandatory, or how consumers will be informed about when the variable "peak" and "off-peak" periods occur.
The law will also set a minimum remuneration for those with solar panels on their roofs. From 2026, households with solar panels will receive at least six rappen (cents) per kilowatt hour (kWh), even during periods of peak production during the summer. However, this will only apply to outputs up to 30 kilowatts. Any power produced above this amount will be sold at market rates.
Finally, if homeowners sell their electricity to the local council through a local electricity association (Lokale Elektrizitätsgemeinschaften LEG), they will receive a discount of up to 40 percent on their energy usage tariff.
Alongside praise from the Federal Council, Green Liberal National Councillor Martin Bäumle hailed the reforms as “going in the right direction”. However, he added that his party had hoped the government would do more to provide incentives to install solar panels.
For their part, the Green Party wrote in a statement that the changes do not go far enough. National Councillor Aline Trede argued that the public had approved an expansion of solar energy, and that "what we are getting now is a discouraging and backward-looking implementation."