Electricity shortage

• As an energy supplier, we ensure a reliable power supply in the city of Zurich and parts of the Grisons, and for around 24,000 qualifying customers throughout Switzerland. We produce and procure the volume of electricity that our clients need in a timely manner. We produce electricity in our own power plants and at present we are intentionally managing our reservoirs sparingly, with the goal of maintaining capacity and thus flexibility for the colder seasons.
• ewz is well prepared, and we have established a task force. We are also in dialogue with the Department of Public Utilities and Transport and the relevant member of the City Council, as well as the city’s executive staff and other departments of the City of Zurich, along with national organisations.

• It’s important to view security of supply at the national and international level and not just in local isolation (city of Zurich). Each energy supplier has the same function, although those without their own production facilities are currently forced to purchase electricity at very high prices on the power market. If every energy supplier remains cautious under the current conditions, this will benefit the security of supply and grid reliability throughout the whole of Switzerland. 
• Over the entire year, we – and Switzerland as a whole – produce more electricity than we actually need. In summer our electricity surplus is sold on the market. In the colder seasons, we procure additional electricity from elsewhere in Europe.
  

• The events in Ukraine mean that there may be times when demand for electricity and heating (which is produced from gas) cannot be met in full.
• In France, an above-average number of nuclear power plants are not producing energy (as at July 2022). Europe produces around 18 per cent of the electricity it requires in gas-powered plants. With Russian gas imports reduced, this will present a major challenge for the winter. On top of this, we still don’t have a bilateral electricity agreement between Switzerland and the EU. All of these conditions may result in a situation where we can’t import as much electricity as we usually do in the colder seasons.
• Forward-looking electricity production: on 17 February 2022 (prior to the Ukraine crisis), the Federal Council announced its plans for introduction of hydroelectric power reserves for winter 2022/2023.
• In principle, there must be enough electricity in Europe. That’s because Europe has an integrated energy system with a highly interconnected high-voltage grid in which Switzerland – and thus ewz – is a participant. In geographic terms, it is immaterial where a power plant feeds the electricity that it produces into the grid. The important thing is that throughout Europe, at any given moment, enough electricity is being produced to meet current demand – what we call the ‘pool of electricity’.

• If demand for electricity exceeds supply over several days or weeks, this results in a power shortage. Under normal circumstances, electricity producers and grid operators ensure that there is enough electricity produced to meet consumer demand at any given moment. Various factors of differing intensity may lead to a shortage. This could be a scenario with a chain of highly diverse factors. It may begin with a dry summer, for instance, which results in low capacity in Swiss reservoirs. This is followed by a long, cold winter with little by way of wind or sunlight, while multiple nuclear and gas-powered plants in neighbouring countries drop off the grid, which means that Switzerland can no longer import all the electricity it needs.
•  The Federal Council then has to impose corrective measures by ordinance and the government convenes the ‘Organisation for Power Supply in Extraordinary Situations’ (OSTRAL) (in German), which is tasked with introducing the following staggered measures:
• • Bans and consumption restrictions
  • Rationing for bulk consumers
    
  • and, something to be avoided at all costs and only applied as a last resort – rolling outrages 
• If there are supply shortages in Switzerland or even the whole of Europe, this will impact Zurich, even if ewz itself is still producing enough electricity. In simple terms: when the lights go out in Europe, they go out in Switzerland and Zurich as well.

All of us can help out, right now, and show our solidarity with others. Because the best kilowatt hour is the one that isn’t needed and doesn’t have to be produced in the first place. Some things you can do:

• Turn lights off when you leave the room
  
• Don’t leave devices on stand-by
  
• Use LED lights
• Use a saucepan lid when you cook
  

Here are plenty more tips and tricks for saving electricity – and money!

In a city with over 430,000 residents, and a country with a population of 8.5 million, we can save a huge amount of electricity with no loss of comfort at all. You can find more tips in our online magazine, powernewz.ch:

• 7 general energy-saving tips for day-to-day life (in German)
• 12 tips for cooling your home without air conditioning (in German)
• 12 tips for heating correctly (in German)

ewz in-home energy audits have been helping private individuals with free tips and tricks on efficient use of energy for over thirty years – by telephone or even virtually. You won’t just be saving electricity, but cash as well! The same goes for businesses, who can take advantage of our free initial audit. 

• Prices on the electricity market were already starting to rise in late 2021. Why? Because over the course of 2021, the global economy began recovering from the COVID-19 crisis. This led to an unexpectedly sharp increase in worldwide demand for natural gas and coal. Meanwhile, supplies of these raw materials for delivery to Europe were unusually low in autumn 2021, which forced prices up.
• Some European countries, in contrast to Switzerland, use natural gas (and coal) to produce electricity. Countries that don’t produce their own electricity or haven’t entered into long-term supply contracts are reliant on the power market. There the price is determined by the offer from the most expensive power plant that is required to cover electricity demand at any given moment. At present the most expensive facilities are the gas-fired power plants, because less gas is flowing from Russia to Europe, resulting in an artificial shortage. 
• The Energie 360° website (in German) offers current information on gas supply in Switzerland.
  

• No, not for private households (thanks to the basic supply system). That’s because ewz produces electricity in its own power plants and partner plants, so it’s not subject to market fluctuations.
• The overall electricity tariff is broken down into four components: energy supply (electricity), grid usage, municipal levies and national grid surcharge. Because ewz has enough of its own hydropower plants, wind power plants and photovoltaic systems to produce the electricity it needs, under the basic supply system customers receive power from us at stable production costs. Current fluctuations on the power market have no impact on price calculations. The energy supply component of the tariff will remain stable in 2023 for customers in the city of Zurich and in the regions of the Grisons that ewz supplies directly.

In contrast to an electricity outage (or blackout), under an electricity shortage there is still electricity available, but at reduced volumes. An electricity shortage arises when the demand for electrical energy exceeds the available supply due to low production, transmission or import capacities over several days, weeks or months.

The public is being called on to reduce electricity consumption on a voluntary basis, but if that isn’t enough, the federal authorities will convene the ‘Organisation for Power Supply in Extraordinary Situations’ (OSTRAL) (in German). In the event of an electricity shortage, the authorities will introduce a range of measures by order.

Bans and consumption restrictions

• To conserve energy, the Federal Council would ban energy-intensive applications which are not absolutely essential (saunas, jetted hot tubs, swimming pools, air conditioning, escalators, shop window lighting, neon signs, etc.).

Rationing

• All bulk consumers would then be obliged to reduce their energy volumes by a mandated amount to prevent outages.
• In autumn 2021, the Federal Office for National Economic Supply and OSTRAL mounted a communication campaign, with electricity services writing to their bulk consumers with concrete details about OSTRAL.  ‘If electricity supplies drop, Switzerland will be relying on your support,’ said Guy Parmelin, member of the Federal Council and head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, in a video statement (in German).

Rolling outages: a last resort

The goal is clear: with solidarity and a common will we have to save enough electricity that we can avoid outages at all costs. Otherwise, the following measures may be mandated as a last resort:

• Rolling outages of electricity grids by sub-region in two stages
• Centralised control of Switzerland’s pool of power plants
  

Where technically feasible, this will not affect operations of systemic relevance, such as hospitals, water supply facilities, telecommunications and waste management.

• Essentially, we’re not affected by the current situation to the same extent as the major national electricity producers. We’re also not involved in trading activities to the same extent; we only conduct short-term trading on power exchanges, which means we only need to deposit a small amount of collateral in the form of liquidity.
• As a service department of the City of Zurich, and given our current size, ewz is not covered by the safety net. The federal legislation which introduced the safety net only covers companies which are subject to private law. Electricity companies that fall under cantonal or municipal administration, or that are operated as public-sector institutions, are excluded by definition. In case of emergency, they have to rely on the support of the relevant authority, in our case the city of Zurich. That means that the safety net does not apply to ewz.