Energy prices: government considers measures to help households

The issue of rising energy and fuel prices is 'on the government's radar', according to Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga © Keystone / Christian Beutler

The Swiss government has set up a working group to examine whether measures are needed to relieve the burden on households caused by rising energy prices.

“[The government] is observing the development very closely in order to clarify whether support is needed to cushion hardship cases,” said Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga in an interviewExternal link with the SonntagsZeitung.

“The issue of rising prices is on our radar,” she said, explaining that she had set up a working group with Finance Minister Ueli Maurer and had already held talks with the country’s 26 cantons.

Electricity tariffs for households in Switzerland are set once a year. “The next round of tariffs will take place in autumn, and we will have to keep a close eye on how much electricity prices for private consumers will rise. And what measures, if any, are needed at least for households with low incomes and for certain small and medium-sized companies,” she said.

Sommaruga did not comment on the form of the aid. In Germany, the government has put together a package to reduce the burden for people in view of increased energy and fuel prices. It includes an energy price flat rate, a reduction of the energy tax on fuel for three months, and aid for families and low-income earners.

A cap on prices by the Swiss government, as in France, is out of the question because there are 600 energy suppliers with very different tariff systems, Sommaruga said. “A uniform tariff is therefore not possible,” she said.