Reserve power plants: the National Council approves 131,3 million

Context

In brief

• National Council approves 131,3 million for reserve power plants
• 100 million fund planning and preliminary activities
• 31,3 million go to Monthey's transitional solution
• The credit now goes to the Council of States

Key facts

• Decision → National Council
• Vote → 118 votes to 74
• Amount → 131,3 million francs
• Preparations → 100 million
• Monthey (VS) → 31,3 million
• Transitional solution → until 2030
• ElCom recommendation → at least 500 MW from 2030
• Next step → Council of States

The vote and the project's dual-track approach

The National Council today approved, by 118 votes to 74, a credit of 131,3 million francs for future reserve power plants. The decision concerns the initial phase of the project and a solution already identified to support the system until 2030.

One hundred million francs will be allocated to planning and preliminary activities. The other 31,3 million will be used to finance the Monthey (VS) reserve power plant, which will serve as a transitional solution until 2030.

“An electricity reserve is absolutely indispensable,” said Nicolas Kolly (UDC/FR) on behalf of the committee.

The rationale given in the chamber concerns the risk of a shortage also affecting neighboring countries. In such a situation, according to Kolly, Switzerland might not be able to count on sufficient imports. A severe shortage, he added, could cause economic damage amounting to billions of francs and consequences for security, society and the environment.

The Federal Electricity Commission, ElCom, recommends a permanent reserve capacity of at least 500 MW from 2030, in addition to the hydropower reserve. Building the infrastructure takes several years: for this reason, the text links the need for preparations to the early launch of planning.

The Federal Council had also requested 2,18 billion francs to build four new reserve power plants. The National Council's competent committee separated that part from the credit just approved. The credit of more than 2 billion will be discussed only next year, when ElCom publishes its periodic report on the security of electricity supply. The 131,3 million credit now goes to the Council of States.

Operational details

Three keys to understanding the effects

For those who live or work in Switzerland, the practical point is not only the amount approved, but the status of the dossier. The National Council approved funding for planning, preliminary activities and a transitional solution; the request to build the four new plants remains separate. A headline that automatically added 131,3 million and 2,18 billion would conflate two different phases.

The first key is the external risk described by the commission. If a shortage also affected neighboring countries, available imports might not be sufficient. The national reserve is therefore presented as a response to the risk of insufficient supplies. The damage envisaged is not solely economic: Kolly refers to billions of francs and consequences for security, society and the environment. These are the effects indicated by the source, not a prediction concerning a single family or company.

The second key is time. The infrastructure requires several years, and the Monthey solution runs until 2030. For the same horizon, ElCom indicates permanent capacity of at least 500 MW, additional to the hydroelectric reserve. For the reader, the difference between transitional and permanent helps explain why the funding for preparations is being examined before the decision on the broader project.

The third key is parliamentary. Consideration of the credit exceeding 2 billion is postponed until next year and linked to the publication of ElCom's periodic report on security of supply. Until that step, the source does not describe a definitive decision on the four plants.

The text does not indicate a new tariff or an obligation for individual residents. For those who also follow costo della vita in Svizzera, this distinction prevents attributing to the credit an effect that the source does not quantify. Here, the operational fact is the sequence of decisions on the electricity reserve: the risk of a shortage, advance planning and the subsequent parliamentary examination.

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Key points

An Operational Guide to Following the Dossier

The source makes it possible to follow the dossier through a simple, entirely institutional procedure. The first step is to note the status of the decision: the credit has been approved by the National Council, and the next review falls to the Council of States. It should therefore not be described as full parliamentary approval of the entire project.

The second step is to separate the two financial tracks. When reading an update, it is necessary to check whether it concerns the credit already voted for planning, preliminary activities and Monthey, or the request, still to be discussed, for four new power plants. This distinction prevents the 2.18 billion from being presented as expenditure that has already been approved.

The third step is to establish two time references without turning them into dates that the source does not provide. 2030 identifies the limit of Monthey's transitional solution and the horizon indicated by ElCom for permanent capacity. ElCom's periodic report, which will be published next year, is instead the step linked to the discussion of the credit exceeding 2 billion.

The fourth step is to check the technical terminology. The wording at least 500 MW indicates an ElCom recommendation for the permanent reserve, additional to the hydropower reserve. It is not the capacity of a power plant that has already been built and does not correspond to the amount of the approved credit. Nor does transitional solution mean that the proposal for the four power plants has already been financed.

The source does not indicate forms, applications, documents or personal deadlines for anyone living or working in Switzerland. The concrete action described by the news is therefore to follow the matter's passage to the Council of States and the subsequent report on security of supply, keeping the credit, recommendation and future project separate. For a separate check of your own budget, open calcolatore stipendio/imposte.

The final verification must answer a precise question: are you reading a decision that has already been made or a request that Parliament will examine later? To begin this verification, use calcolatore stipendio/imposte.

Source: tio.ch