Electricity prices will rise sharply at many suppliers next year, ElCom said on Thursday. There are also uncertainties regarding the security of supply next winter. Shortages are not excluded
This information comes from a survey carried out by the Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom) among 613 energy supply companies, of which 172 responded, said the latter at a press conference in Bern.
It shows that a large part of the responding network operators will charge higher energy tariffs of around 47% on average for the coming year. This increase will weigh as much on large consumers as on households.
180 francs more per year for a household
For a 5-room household with an average annual consumption of 4,500 kilowatt hours, the price of electricity would drop from around 21 cents per kilowatt hour in 2022 to nearly 25 cents in 2023, i.e. an additional financial burden of around 180 francs per year.
Companies with an annual consumption of 150,000 kWh should expect an additional charge of around 6,000 francs (excluding VAT). However, the differences may be greater in some cases. The final electricity prices for end customers will be entered by the suppliers by the end of August and communicated by ElCom at the beginning of September.
It should be noted that supply companies have the option of providing voluntary measures to mitigate price increases, such as billing energy produced in Switzerland from renewable energies at cost price rather than at market price.
Imports from neighboring countries
Regarding next winter, in addition to the availability of national nuclear production, the export capacity of neighboring countries will be decisive for the security of supply. Due to the expected low availability of French nuclear power plants, imports from France are expected to be very limited.
Switzerland’s structural import requirements of around 4 terawatt hours during the winter semester should therefore be met primarily by power from Germany, Austria and Italy. However, the export capacity of these countries is highly dependent on the availability of fossil fuels.
Conversely, the good availability of Swiss nuclear power plants and reduced consumption by industry in a context of persistently high prices play in favor of the security of supply.
Preparatory work for next winter is also underway. Switzerland wants to have a strategic hydraulic reserve for the first time, in addition to acquiring control energy in advance. Uncertainties regarding the supply situation should therefore persist until winter.
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Wholesale electricity prices have seen an unprecedented rise since August 2021. Gas prices, which have increased dramatically following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are the main reason for the currently very high electricity prices. common in Europe and therefore also in Switzerland.
A possible increase in tariffs does not only depend on the evolution of prices on the market, but also on the supply strategies and the production portfolios of the supply companies, notes ElCom.
In general, the greater a supply company’s share of own generation and long-term market share of acquired energy, the lower the increase in energy tariffs should be.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats
