BKW lowers electricity price by 0.5 centimes per kilowatt hour
Published: Tuesday, Aug 6th 2024, 11:20
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The Bern-based energy group BKW is lowering the electricity tariff in the basic supply from January 1, 2025. This is due to lower production and Swissgrid costs. Specifically, the electricity price will fall by 0.5 centimes per kilowatt hour.
For a household in a five-room apartment with an electric stove and tumble dryer and an annual consumption of 4,500 kilowatt hours (kWh), this means a CHF 6.25 reduction in the electricity bill per month. Over the year as a whole, the reduction amounts to CHF 75, as announced by BKW on Tuesday. This represents a tariff reduction of six percent.
As BKW primarily supplies its region with electricity from its own power plants, production costs have the greatest impact on the price. These are part of the production costs, which in turn are influenced to a small extent by electricity market prices, as the company explained.
New tariffs from Swissgrid
Prices on the electricity market had risen sharply two years ago, but have since fallen again. Hydropower operators also benefited from higher water levels in 2023 after the dry previous year.
Another factor in the reduction in electricity prices is the grid usage tariff. BKW kept this stable despite the nationwide introduction of digital electricity meters in the second half of 2024 and further investments in the electricity grid. This is due to the change in various tariffs by the national grid company Swissgrid.
In addition, Swissgrid will reduce the tariffs for general ancillary services by 0.2 centimes per kilowatt hour from 2025. The costs for the electricity reserve introduced by the federal government to counter electricity shortages have also fallen.
BKW is also increasing the feed-in tariff for certified photovoltaic systems from one centime per kilowatt hour to 3.5 centimes per kilowatt hour with retroactive effect from July 1, 2024. In 2025, the canton of Jura will introduce a levy of 0.2 centimes per kilowatt hour to promote renewable energies. The approximately 600 electricity producers for end customers must report their tariffs to the regulatory authority, the Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom), by the end of August.
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