| Media release
In 2025, a household with an annual consumption of 4,500 kWh will pay an average of CHF 77 (2024: CHF 92) for the services provided by Swissgrid. This corresponds to five percent of the total expected electricity costs. The costs for the federal government’s power reserves will also fall.
Swissgrid uses the tariffs for the transmission system to finance the secure and stable operation, expansion and modernisation of the extra-high-voltage grid. Swissgrid is firmly committed to keeping tariffs as low as possible. However, they are highly dependent on factors beyond Swissgrid’s control, including price trends on the power markets and regulatory requirements.
The tariffs for general ancillary services and active power losses will fall, while the tariffs for grid usage and reactive energy will remain stable at the same level as in 2024. In 2025, a household with an annual consumption of 4,500 kWh will pay an average of CHF 77 for Swissgrid’s services (2024: CHF 92). This accounts for around five percent of the household’s total expected annual electricity costs. For a company with an annual consumption of 90,000 kWh, this means costs of CHF 1,540 (2024: CHF 1,840).
Lower tariffs for general ancillary services and active power losses
The tariffs for general ancillary services and active power losses are influenced to a large extent by external factors such as price trends on the power markets. Falling costs due to lower forecast procurement costs are offset by catch-up effects. Swissgrid must reduce deficits from 2022 and 2023 that arose due to the high prices on the power markets. The tariff for general ancillary services will decrease to 0.55 cents per kilowatt-hour (2024: 0.75 cents).
The tariff for active power losses will also be reduced, and will represent 0.35 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2025 (2024: 0.64 cents). Swissgrid compensates for the transmission losses incurred during electricity transmission by means of structured, multi-phase procurement of the required volumes on the power market.
Constant tariffs for grid usage and reactive energy
The tariffs for grid usage in 2025 will remain at the current year’s level, with a working tariff of 0.27 cents per kilowatt-hour. The development of these tariffs is less dependent on exogenous factors. The tariffs for grid usage cover the costs for Swissgrid’s core business, i.e. the renewal, expansion and maintenance of the grid, as well as the costs of operation and monitoring via the control centres. The Swiss transmission grid is the backbone of a secure supply of electricity in Switzerland and is one of the safest and most reliable in the world.
The tariff for reactive energy will also remain at the 2024 level of 1.60 cents per kilovar-hour. The consistency of the tariff for reactive energy is due not least to the voltage maintenance concept introduced by Swissgrid in 2020, which gives participants even greater motivation to act in a way that is beneficial to the system.
The federal government’s power reserves
Since 2024, electricity consumers have also had to pay the costs for the federal government’s power reserves. The federal government has taken numerous measures to ensure security of supply. These include the hydropower reserve, reserve power plants and emergency power groups. The Federal Council has decreed that these costs are to be charged via Swissgrid. Swissgrid reports these costs, which it does not incur, via a separate «power reserve» tariff, which will decrease in 2025 to 0.23 cents per kilowatt-hour (2024: 1.20 cents). This decline is primarily due to the much lower costs expected for the hydropower reserve. For an average household with a consumption of 4,500 kWh, the power reserve will represent a financial burden of CHF 11 for 2025 (2024: CHF 54). For a company with a consumption of 90,000 kWh, the financial burden will be equivalent to CHF 220 (2024: CHF 1,080).