Electricity & gas in Switzerland: your rights
The rules that protect you as an electricity and gas customer in Switzerland, and who to contact. Every fact is checked on an official source.
What is going on?
Everything at a glance
The market
Households and small firms using under 100 MWh a year cannot choose their electricity supplier: they are in the basic supply (Grundversorgung) of their local grid operator. Full opening is planned with the EU electricity agreement (signed March 2026, now in parliament). Gas has no specific law yet.
Energy regulator
Eidgenössische Elektrizitätskommission ElCom
Compare prices official
Strompreis-Webseite der ElCom
Switching supplier
Households cannot switch electricity supplier; only customers using more than 100,000 kWh a year have market access. For gas, the Competition Commission ruled in 2020 that small customers may in principle choose, but there is no nationwide framework; a gas supply act (GasVG) was consulted in 2025.
Price rises
Basic-supply electricity tariffs are set per calendar year. Grid operators must publish them by the end of August; they apply from 1 January and cannot be changed during the year. Increases must be justified to customers. As you cannot switch, there is no right to leave.
Regulated price
Your local grid operator sets the tariff based on its grid and energy costs; ElCom can review it and order cuts if costs are not lawful. You can report suspected excessive tariffs to ElCom and compare all tariffs on the ElCom electricity price website.
Help if money is tight
No national social electricity tariff was found. Ask your municipality or canton's social services if you cannot pay your energy bills.
Protection against cut-off
Federal law does not clearly regulate cut-offs for unpaid bills; some cantons and municipalities have their own rules. According to Federal Supreme Court case law, a cut-off is a serious step and only allowed after prior warning. Remote cut-off via smart meter requires your separate consent.
If your supplier goes bust
Households are always supplied by their local grid operator under basic supply, so a failing retail supplier does not affect them. 'Ersatzversorgung' (for free-market customers without a supplier) is not regulated by law.
Power cut
For a power cut, contact your local grid operator (Elektrizitätswerk/Netzbetreiber). Switzerland has about 590 grid operators; you can find yours by municipality on the ElCom electricity price website.
Cooling-off period
For doorstep sales (including on the street or at promotional events) and phone contracts, you can cancel within 14 days if the value exceeds CHF 100. Swiss law gives no statutory right of withdrawal for online purchases.
Smart meter
Grid operators must replace at least 80% of old meters with smart meters by the end of 2027. You cannot refuse; if the operator accepts a refusal, it may charge extra reading costs (about CHF 90-120 a year is considered normal).
Solar panels
Your grid operator must buy surplus solar power. Since 1 January 2026, unless you agree otherwise, it pays the quarterly reference market price published by the SFOE, with minimum rates depending on plant size. The EU agreement would abolish minimum rates for plants under 150 kW.
Free energy advice
The federal SwissEnergy programme lists cantonal, regional and municipal energy advice centres by postcode, showing which advice is free. They help with saving energy, heating, solar and subsidies.
Fixed and dynamic contracts
Households using under 100 MWh a year stay in the basic supply of their local grid operator, so there is no choice of fixed or dynamic supplier contracts. By law, basic-supply tariffs are set per calendar year and stay fixed for at least one year.
- Since the 2026 tariff year, a grid operator may make a dynamic grid tariff, set on the basis of the grid load expected for the next day, its standard tariff. It must then also offer an optional tariff that matches the previous standard tariff. (elcom.admin.ch)
- Dynamic tariffs require a smart meter. If you do not have one yet, the previous tariff structure continues to apply to you. (elcom.admin.ch)
- ElCom does not rule out dynamic energy tariffs offered as optional tariffs in basic supply, but the rules on energy procurement and energy tariffs must still be met. Ask your grid operator whether it offers one. (elcom.admin.ch)
Energy sharing and communities
Three models exist: the self-consumption group ZEV (since 2018, without using the public grid), the virtual ZEV (since 2025, using the connection lines up to the common grid connection point) and, since 1 January 2026, local electricity communities (LEG) that share power over the public grid.
- The rules on local electricity communities came into force on 1 January 2026. (admin.ch)
- An LEG needs production capacity of at least 5% of the connection capacity of all participants. Everyone must be in the same grid area and not connected above 36 kV. Formation and dissolution must be reported to the grid operator three months ahead, to the end of a month. (fedlex.admin.ch)
- Electricity shared within an LEG gets a discount on the grid usage tariff only, not on the metering tariff. (elcom.admin.ch)
- Tenants in a ZEV may only be charged the actual costs, and per kWh of solar power no more than they would pay their electricity supplier. A flat rate of 80% of the external standard product price is allowed instead. (energieschweiz.ch)
Heating without the gas grid
Switzerland has over 1,000 district heating networks that differ widely in ownership, size and tariffs. The federal Price Supervisor (Preisüberwacher) monitors district heating prices and uses this to remove prices that are abusively high.
- You can report a price you think is abusive to the Price Supervisor with an online form. He reviews prices that are not set by free competition, for example by a dominant company or the state. (preisueberwacher.admin.ch)
Grants for heat pumps and insulation
Das Gebäudeprogramm of the Confederation and the cantons funds energy measures such as insulation and heat pumps. Conditions differ from canton to canton. You apply to the processing office of the canton where the building is located.
- Apply before construction starts. Applications submitted afterwards cannot be considered. (dasgebaeudeprogramm.ch)
- Renovation costs that serve rational energy use or renewable energy can be deducted from federal income tax, after subtracting the subsidies received. (dasgebaeudeprogramm.ch)
Energy costs for tenants
Your landlord may only charge the service charges (Nebenkosten) listed in the rental contract, usually as monthly advance payments with a yearly statement of actual costs. On request, the landlord must let you see the receipts.
- Before going to court, a tenancy dispute goes to the conciliation authority, made up of an independent chair and equal tenant and landlord representatives. (bwo.admin.ch)
- If your building runs a solar self-consumption group (ZEV), disputes with the owner over the solar power price go to the civil courts; the tenancy conciliation authorities can be called on. (elcom.admin.ch)
Grid connection
Grid operators must connect all end consumers in building zones and year-round inhabited properties outside them. The cantons assign the grid areas. ElCom decides disputes about grid access and grid-use conditions.