Energy costs to rise for Swiss households

While market prices for electricity, for example, have calmed down considerably since the exceptional highs in summer 2022, the costs for households continue to rise. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

Swiss consumers will have to pay more for energy but how much depends on the commodity and region.

While market prices for electricity, for example, have calmed down considerably since the exceptional highs in summer 2022, the costs for households continue to rise. This is in part due to the fact that there is a delay in passing on the higher costs of electricity production and procurement to households. This is because they are regulated by the state and are only adjusted once a year.

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After an increase of a full 27% at the beginning of 2023, electricity prices for end customers will rise by a further 18% at the start of the new year. There are significant regional differences though. Some suppliers, such as BKW (Bern power), supply their customers from their own power plants and are therefore more or less unaffected by market fluctuations.

Nevertheless, the Swiss still pay significantly more for heating with gas than before the rapid rise. For example, Energie 360 Grad, the large Zurich supplier, has been charging CHF0.12 per kilowatt hour for its standard product since October.

Although this is again significantly less than the high of CHF0.18 ($0.20) per kilowatt hour in October 2022, a normal heating customer with an apartment building paid just CHF0.07 per kilowatt hour for the standard product until September 2021 and CHF0.11 in February 2022 – before the start of the war in Ukraine.

The price of heating oil is similar to that of gas. Unlike gas, however, the heating oil tank is usually only filled once a year, often in the fall. According to “Heizoel24.ch”, a homeowner with an oil heating system currently pays around CHF120 per 100 liters for a standard order volume.

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