Swiss households will get some relief from high electricity bills next year. Prices in the regulated basic-supply market will fall by a median 4% in 2027, according to ElCom, the federal electricity regulator. A typical household consuming 4,500kWh a year will pay about CHF 1,194, CHF 53 less than in 2026.
The decline is being driven mainly by cheaper energy procurement. The energy component of the tariff will fall by 6.3%, from 12.11 centimes per kilowatt-hour to 11.35 centimes. Some expensive supply contracts signed during the energy crisis are now expiring, allowing utilities to replace them with cheaper purchases.
That does not mean electricity is becoming cheap. ElCom says tariffs have stabilised at a “rather high level”. The median overall household tariff will still be 26.5 centimes per kilowatt-hour in 2027, down from 27.7 centimes this year.
Nor are all parts of the bill falling. Network charges will rise from 10.73 to 10.94 centimes per kilowatt-hour. Metering costs will also edge up, to about CHF 78 a year for a typical household. These increases are partly offset by lower charges for Switzerland’s electricity reserve and lower transmission tariffs from Swissgrid.
The national average conceals large local differences. Switzerland’s roughly 580 distribution-network operators pursue different procurement strategies and rely to varying degrees on their own power production. As a result, households in neighbouring municipalities can face markedly different tariffs—click here to see 2027 prices in your municipality.
ElCom notes that recent increases in wholesale electricity prices have had little effect on tariffs for 2027 because much of next year’s supply was bought in advance. Any sustained increase in wholesale prices would therefore be more likely to show up in later years.
The regulator has also scrutinised how electricity companies explain their tariffs. It found that most operators comply with rules on separating regulated network activities from competitive businesses, but said explanations for tariff changes were often unclear.
Consumers can compare 2027 tariffs by municipality and network operator on ElCom’s electricity-price website. The figures are supplied directly by the network operators and are updated by the regulator.
More on this:
ElCom article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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