BKW FMB Energy Ltd Annual Report 2003

Energy Policy
Clear Federal Court ruling – lack of framework
BKW remains committed to the comprehensive liberalisation
of the Swiss electricity market in orderly phases.
The challenges facing
energy policy
Since voters rejected the Electricity Market
Law (EML) in the autumn of 2002,
Swiss energy policy has increasingly
come under pressure to reform, in order
to address the major challenges that lie
ahead. Despite the rejection by Swiss voters,
deregulation of the Swiss electricity
market can no longer be avoided. Various
national and international factors support
this: in mid-2003 the European Union parliament
authorised a package of laws requiring
member states to deregulate their
electricity and gas markets completely
by 1 July 2007. An additional Directive
regulates investments in energy production
and transmission as well as network
access for cross-border trade. While
Switzerland is not obliged to keep pace
with the EU and follow this road map to
deregulation, its central location in Europe
and its importance as a transit country for
electrical power make it advantageous
to adopt the EU’s “Community acquis”,
to avoid being marginalised in terms of
future trade policy.
Federal Council and parliament
in favour of electricity market
deregulation
The Swiss Federal Council (the cabinet)
and parliament as well as the electricity industry
are aiming to adopt the EU’s framework
conditions for the Swiss market by
2007. To this end, the Federal Council set
up a group of experts in the spring of 2003,
and commissioned them to formulate a
new electricity industry structure (EIS)
so as to ensure the international position
of Switzerland’s electricity industry ahead
of full deregulation of the EU electricity
market. Both Switzerland’s houses of parliament
submitted and adopted motions in
favour of an orderly liberalisation of the
electricity market, with a view to creating
a trimmed-down version of the rejected
EML. For their part, owners of Swiss
transmission lines want to create a national
company of network operators to adapt the
industry’s organisation to meet the needs
of the European market.
Landmark Federal Court ruling
Citing the law on cartels, the Federal
Court ruled on 17 June 2003 in favour of
an end customer’s claim to a third-party
line which had been contested by the local
power supplier. This will, however,
allow the market to be opened up only
on a case-by-case basis rather than in line
with generally applicable boundary conditions,
thus giving rise to market distortion
and unequal treatment of customers and
distribution partners. BKW believes that a
clearly defi ned framework is imperative.
BKW – ready for deregulation
of the electricity market
BKW supports the rapid formulation of
a new electricity industry structure with
transparent, fair and EU-compliant legal
parameters. Working with partners at
home and abroad, BKW has developed
viable strategies with a view to the planned
deregulation of the Swiss market in 2007.
A mutually agreed solution with the EU
on cross-border trading in electricity is
the only way in which Switzerland can
continue to maintain its key role as an
energy hub.
13