Hydropower reserve becomes mandatory

The energy crisis is not over. But Switzerland has prepared for winter. Among other things with a hydropower reserve, which the Federal Council ordered last September: the state government secured 400 gigawatt hours of electricity through a tender. Storage plant operators must keep this amount in reserve in case the energy runs out in February or March.

Suppliers do not do this for free. Energy is known to be precious. The exercise will cost 300 million Swiss francs – paid for by consumers. The money flows to companies owned by the cantons and municipalities.

This is annoying for Ticino SP alderman Bruno Storni (68): “We pay for electricity that belongs to us. And that too at a high price.” In fact, the winter reserve costs just under 74 centimes per kilowatt-hour – at a production cost of six centimes per kilowatt-hour.

Even the Federal Council was concerned: instead of the planned 500 gigawatt-hour reserve, it left it at 400. The Elcom Electricity Commission puts it this way: “Because of the bidding structure, a higher reserve quantity would have led to a disproportionate increase in total costs and therefore of the financial burden on electricity consumers.”

Bruno Storni wants to put an end to such expensive emergency actions in the future. At the end of the winter session, the energy politician tabled a motion in which he wants to oblige the operators of storage plants to maintain a hydropower reserve against payment of the cost price and a customary profit mark-up. “That would greatly increase the security of supply,” says Storni. “And it would cost the consumer significantly less.”

Dividends thanks to high prices

Until 2009, the power stations in many cantons had to guarantee the electricity supply. However, with liberalization this obligation disappeared. Since then, energy suppliers have been selling their electricity freely on the open market. The cantons and municipalities are happy with this, because they receive substantial dividends every year.

“It cannot be the case that consumers have to pay for this policy if there is a shortage,” says Storni. He wants to reverse the 2009 free pass — but this time on a federal level by amending the state supply law. This means that energy sources are already counted among the essential goods and the storage of energy among the essential services. In reality, however, this provision only applies to petroleum. “That’s why we now have to explicitly include the obligation to maintain a hydropower reserve in the state’s supply law,” says Storni.

It is unclear whether Minister of Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin (63) or the new Minister of Energy Albert Rösti (55) will respond to Storni’s advance. But the idea is likely to interest both SVP federal councilors: security of supply is the top priority for their party.