House of Representatives backs electricity liberalisation

All consumers should be able to pick their electricity supplier by 2008, according to Switzerland's House of Representatives. The House overwhelmingly backed government plans on Monday for a stage-by-stage liberalisation of the power market.

All consumers should be able to pick their electricity supplier by 2008, according to Switzerland’s House of Representatives. The House overwhelmingly backed government plans on Monday for a stage-by-stage liberalisation of the power market, with full freedom to choose in place within six years of the passage of the relevant legislation.

The House went along with the most contested parts of the government’s proposals, coming out in favour of progressive liberalisation. This entails opening up the market for big consumers only in the first three years: around 110 companies, consuming over 20 gigawatt hours, would be able to choose their supplier.

However, small and medium consumers would not miss out. Electricity distribution companies would be able to buy the equivalent of 10 per cent of the power supplied to these groups on the open market within the initial three year period.

After three years, the 20 gigawatt hour limit would reduce to 10, and the distributors would be allowed to buy 20 per cent. Three years after that the market would be completely liberalised.

Parliamentarians from the Radical Party and the Swiss People’s Party were strongly behind the proposals, along with most of the Christian Democratic Party. However, the Socialist Party and Green deputies criticised what they saw as an excessively slow move to liberalisation.

Several Socialist Party deputies called for a speedier move to the open market, saying the progressive change would mean small consumers missing out on price cuts while big companies gained the advantage. A number of dissenters from across the political spectrum spoke out in favour of a slower pace, saying a longer delay was necessary to ensure no jobs were lost in the electricity generating sector.

swissinfo and agencies