Electricity price in Switzerland today
The spot price of electricity hour by hour in CH (CH), Friday, 23 October 2026.
Switzerland makes more than half of its electricity from water and much of the rest in four nuclear reactors, with solar power growing quickly. Although it sits in the middle of Europe's grid, it is not part of the EU's day-ahead market coupling: the Swiss auction runs separately, and the day-ahead price on this page comes from that auction.
For most households the wholesale price matters only indirectly. Homes cannot choose their supplier; they receive basic supply (Grundversorgung) from their local utility at a tariff fixed once a year for the following calendar year and supervised by the federal regulator ElCom. Tariffs therefore differ from one municipality to the next and follow the market with a delay.
Today electricity costs 21.5 Rp./kWh in CH (CH) on average.
LiveSource: Bundesnetzagentur | SMARD.deRate: ECB 22/10/2026
Hour by hour
The three cheapest hours in a row are 02–05 (average 19.9 Rp./kWh). The dearest hour is 08–09.
Show every hour as a table
| Hour | Spot price (Rp./kWh) | Level |
|---|---|---|
| 00–01 | 20.2 | Cheap |
| 01–02 | 20.1 | Cheap |
| 02–03 | 20.2 | Cheap |
| 03–04 | 19.7 | Cheap |
| 04–05 | 19.8 | Cheap |
| 05–06 | 21.4 | Middle |
| 06–07 | 23.0 | Dear |
| 07–08 | 23.0 | Dear |
| 08–09 | 23.0 | Dear |
| 09–10 | 22.4 | Dear |
| 10–11 | 22.4 | Dear |
| 11–12 | 22.3 | Middle |
| 12–13 | 21.3 | Middle |
| 13–14 | 21.2 | Cheap |
| 14–15 | 21.0 | Cheap |
| 15–16 | 21.4 | Middle |
| 16–17 | 21.9 | Middle |
| 17–18 | 22.6 | Dear |
| 18–19 | 22.9 | Dear |
| 19–20 | 22.5 | Dear |
| 20–21 | 22.0 | Middle |
| 21–22 | 21.5 | Middle |
| 22–23 | 20.6 | Cheap |
| 23–00 | 18.9 | Cheap |
The spot price is the exchange price, the average of the hour's four quarter-hour prices, before taxes, network tariffs and VAT. Converted at the ECB reference rate of 22/10/2026: 1 EUR = 0.9211 CHF. The ECB's rates are free to use.
Where does the electricity in Switzerland come from?
Gross electricity generation in 2025 by energy source. Source: BFE.
How the electricity price works in Switzerland
A separate auction and a market open only to large users
Because Switzerland is not a member of the EU's internal electricity market, its day-ahead price is not calculated together with the coupled European zones, and capacity on its borders is allocated separately. Swissgrid owns and operates the national transmission grid. The market has been open since 2009 only to customers using at least 100 MWh a year. Everyone else, including all ordinary homes, stays with the local network operator, of which there are several hundred, from city utilities to small municipal companies.
The Federal Electricity Commission ElCom checks grid and energy tariffs in basic supply and can order reductions. The electricity supply law approved by voters in June 2024 mainly speeds up the expansion of renewables; it did not open the market to households.
Energy, grid use, municipal levies and the network surcharge
A Swiss bill, priced in rappen per kWh, has four main parts: the energy tariff, the charge for using the grid, levies to the municipality or canton, and the federal network surcharge (Netzzuschlag) that funds renewable power and river restoration. Since the energy crisis a charge for the winter electricity reserve has been added as well, and VAT comes on top.
Utilities must base the energy tariff on what their own production and purchases cost. A municipality supplied by its own hydro plants can therefore pay far less than one whose utility buys most of its power on the market, and ElCom publishes every utility's tariffs so they can be compared.
Snowmelt, winter imports and the neighbours' prices
Water sets the seasonal pattern. In late spring and summer melting snow fills the storage lakes and the rivers, run-of-river plants produce at full capacity and Switzerland usually exports. In winter the flows fall, the reservoirs are drawn down and the country normally imports, so prices then lean on Germany and France. Storage plants run in the most expensive hours, and the availability of the nuclear reactors matters, especially in winter. Through cross-border trade the gas price and the weather in neighbouring countries feed into the Swiss price.
Run-of-river, Alpine reservoirs and four reactors
Run-of-river stations on the Rhine, the Aare and the Rhône produce around the clock, while storage plants in the Valais, Graubünden and other Alpine cantons hold water in high dams such as Grande Dixence. Pumped storage like Nant de Drance, which came into service in 2022, adds flexibility. Nuclear power comes from Beznau, with two reactors, and from Gösgen and Leibstadt; Mühleberg closed at the end of 2019, and Beznau 1, started in 1969, is one of the oldest reactors still running in the world. Solar panels are spreading fast, while wind remains marginal.
A transit country between Germany, France and Italy
Switzerland is a hub in the European grid, with many lines across its borders. Germany brings wind, solar and coal, France mostly nuclear power, and a large share of the electricity that flows south to Italy, a country that relies heavily on gas, crosses Swiss lines. Austria is the closest match, with Alpine hydro of its own but no nuclear, and unlike Switzerland it is fully part of EU market coupling.
Switzerland compared with its neighbours
In 2025, hydro made 56%, nuclear made 27% and solar made 12% of the electricity generated in Switzerland. Wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and bioenergy together made 95% of generation in Switzerland.
Gross electricity generation in 2025 by energy source. Source: Eurostat (nrg_bal_peh). Pumped hydro is left out. Switzerland: SFOE (BFE), electricity balance; storage hydro includes pumped storage.
Voltly does not cover Switzerland yet
Voltly shows hourly prices in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Netherlands and Belgium.
Voltly is for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Questions about the electricity price in Switzerland
- What does electricity cost in Switzerland today?
- In CH (CH) the spot price averages 21.5 Rp./kWh today. It is cheapest at 23–00 with 18.9 Rp./kWh and dearest at 08–09 with 23.0 Rp./kWh. Network tariffs, taxes and VAT come on top.
- How much of the electricity in Switzerland comes from hydro?
- 56% of the electricity generated in Switzerland came from hydro in 2025 (BFE), the largest single source.
- Can a Swiss household choose its electricity supplier?
- No. Only customers using at least 100 MWh a year, such as larger businesses, may buy on the free market. Households receive basic supply from the local utility at the tariff it sets for the year. Some utilities offer a choice of products, such as hydro or solar power, but the supplier itself is given by where you live.
- Why does my Swiss tariff not follow the day-ahead price on this page?
- Because basic-supply tariffs are fixed for a whole calendar year and are based on the utility's own production and purchasing costs, often bought years in advance. A sharp rise or fall in the day-ahead price therefore reaches households, if at all, a year or more later, and differently from one utility to the next.
- What does it mean that Switzerland is outside EU market coupling?
- In the coupled EU zones, prices and cross-border flows are calculated in one step, so power moves to where it is worth most. Switzerland runs its own day-ahead auction, and capacity at its borders is allocated separately. The interconnections are therefore used less efficiently than they could be, and the Swiss price can differ more from its neighbours'.