Glossary
StromVG
Also known as: Electricity Supply Act, Federal Act on Electricity Supply, Stromversorgungsgesetz, SR 734.7
The StromVG (Federal Act on Electricity Supply, SR 734.7) of 23 March 2007 governs access to the electricity grid in Switzerland, the grid usage tariffs, basic supply and security of supply. In 2009 it opened the market for end consumers with an annual consumption above 100 MWh, created Swissgrid as the national grid company and appointed ElCom as regulator. With the 2024 Electricity Act, local electricity communities (LEG) and the electricity reserve followed in 2025 and 2026.
What does the StromVG govern?
Alongside the Energy Act (EnG), the StromVG is the second foundation of the Swiss electricity market. The EnG governs subsidies, self-consumption and the purchase obligation; the StromVG governs the grid: who may use it, what that costs and who guarantees supply. The implementing provisions are set out in the Electricity Supply Ordinance (StromVV).
Four areas affect businesses with a PV system directly. First, grid access: end consumers with an annual consumption above 100 MWh have been free to choose their electricity supplier since 2009; anyone below that stays in the basic supply of the local distribution grid operator. Second, the grid usage tariff: it covers the cost of the grid, must be cost-reflective and non-discriminatory under the StromVG, and for businesses with load metering includes the demand charge on the highest quarter-hour load. Third, security of supply, with Swissgrid as operator of the transmission grid and the ancillary services in which battery storage can take part. Fourth, ElCom, the Federal Electricity Commission, which monitors grid usage tariffs and basic supply electricity prices and rules on disputes over grid access (Fedlex, SR 734.7; BFE, Electricity Supply Act).
What changed in 2025 and 2026?
The Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply from Renewable Energies, known as the Electricity Act or Mantelerlass, was approved on 9 June 2024 with 68.7 percent of the vote and amended both the EnG and the StromVG. The first stage entered into force on 1 January 2025, the second on 1 January 2026.
Three changes in the StromVG matter for businesses. The local electricity community (LEG) has allowed trading in locally produced electricity over the public grid within a municipality since 2026 (Art. 17d and 17e StromVG), with a reduced grid usage tariff on the LEG electricity. The electricity reserve secures winter supply through storage hydropower and reserve power plants, financed by a surcharge on the grid usage tariff. And grid operators must deploy smart metering systems and make load profile data available to end consumers, the basis for dynamic tariffs and peak shaving.
The purchase obligation for solar electricity and the remuneration at the reference market price, by contrast, are set out in the EnG, not in the StromVG. What the two acts together mean for businesses with a PV system from 100 kWp is covered in the article Electricity market 2026 and dynamic tariffs; the comparison of ZEV, vZEV and LEG is in ZEV, vZEV or LEG.