Forecast during office hours Electricity companies don't look at the weather at the weekend - consumers pay millions

The onset of winter and inadequate weather forecasts caused the Swiss electricity grid to falter on several occasions. For consumers, this means additional costs in the millions.

On April 22, 2024, almost all of Switzerland's solar power production suddenly failed. The reason was an unexpected onset of winter, which covered the solar panels with snow. According to Swissgrid, electricity had to be purchased at peak prices at short notice to keep the grid stable - up to CHF 2,000 per megawatt hour, as reported by theNZZ. The total costs amounted to around 10 million francs.

Such bottlenecks are no exception. Unexpected fluctuations occurred several times in the summer of 2024 and also at the beginning of 2025. Swissgrid repeatedly had to ramp up or down power plants at short notice.

This cost around CHF 370 million in 2024 alone, more than twice as much as in the previous year. The month of April was particularly expensive last year: up to 12,000 euros are said to have been paid for a megawatt hour.

Many electricity companies, too few staff

There are around 650 electricity companies in Switzerland, many of which are very small. The offices often remain empty at weekends or on public holidays - forecasts are then simply not updated.

This increases the error rate if the weather suddenly changes. "The weather changes quickly. If forecasts are only made on working days and only during office hours, this is not enough," Bastian Schwark from Swissgrid told the NZZ.

Since the beginning of the year, Swissgrid has therefore been requesting new weather data from the so-called "balance groups" on a daily basis - even at weekends. These are distribution grids, traders, producers and suppliers that are grouped together. However, this obligation only applies to around 50 companies.

The consequence: If there is a shortage of electricity, large suppliers such as Axpo, Alpiq and BKW can step in at high prices. This is made possible by the new "Picasso" platform, which has been in place since 2022. Since then, the prices for balancing energy have multiplied. As a result, the NZZ writes that the companies have been able to make a profit from the high demand for balancing energy in recent years.

In order to stop these "extreme profits", the supervisory authority Elcom introduced price caps on March 1, 2025. Since March, a maximum of 1000 euros per megawatt hour has applied for energy required at particularly short notice. This limit will apply until the end of the year for the time being.

Swissgrid is therefore hoping for an electricity agreement with the EU. Switzerland would then have access to the European platforms and more options in the event of bottlenecks. As this will not happen so quickly, Swissgrid wants to introduce a new pricing model in 2026. According to the NZZ, energy suppliers will be rewarded for keeping the grid stable.