The costs for Swissgrid's transmission grid amount to around 5 per cent of the total electricity price that the end consumer pays. In 2019, an average Swiss household with an annual consumption of 4,500 kWh will pay a total of CHF 45.00 towards the costs of the transmission grid operated by Swissgrid.
The majority of the costs for ancillary services are incurred through the provision of control power. Swissgrid uses the control energy made available by the power plants to balance short-term differences between electricity production and consumption. The grid usage tariff covers the costs of renewal, development and maintenance of the transmission grid, as well as of operations and monitoring via the control centres.
Swissgrid charges the grid usage tariffs – a working tariff, a power tariff and the fixed basic tariff per weighted outflow point – to the distribution system operators directly connected to the transmission grid. In turn, they calculate their own tariffs based on their grid costs and Swissgrid's initial grid usage tariffs. For end consumers, such as private households, this means that electricity tariffs often vary by region.
For private end consumers, Swissgrid's tariffs for grid usage and individual ancillary services are included on their electricity bill as part of the ‘grid usage’ price component. The general ancillary service tariffs as well as fees for cost-covering remuneration for feed-in to the electricity grid (CRF) and water pollution control are usually listed separately on the electricity bill.
