Switzerland entered 2026 with three ideas that sound similar but do different jobs: a dynamic grid tariff, a contract for a distribution operator to use flexibility, and a developing market for coordinated grid services. A battery can encounter all three. They are not interchangeable, and none should be assumed before the local tariff, control rights and metering arrangement are read together.
A dynamic network tariff changes the price of using the distribution grid according to forecast network loading. The site or its energy management system decides how to respond. A flexibility contract goes further: it sets the terms on which the distribution system operator may use controllable consumption, storage or injection for a defined grid purpose.[1, 7]
The distinction became more important on 1 January 2026. The revised Swiss framework gave formal shape to dynamic tariff models and to the use of grid-friendly flexibility. It did not create one national product. Tariffs remain the responsibility of the local operator, contractual use remains operator- and site-specific, and Swissgrid's wider TSO–DSO coordination model is still moving from test work towards implementation preparation.[1, 8, 9]
For a battery behind an industrial meter, the useful question is therefore not simply whether Switzerland now has dynamic tariffs. It is which instrument applies at this connection point, what the operator can control, what the meter can distinguish, and which other tariff components remain.
Dynamic tariffs were not excluded, but they lacked today's specific federal framework and remained unusual. DSO use of flexible equipment depended on earlier arrangements, some of which may continue under the rules for existing use.[2, 8]
The framework now defines day-ahead dynamic network-tariff models and, where the dynamic tariff is standard, a non-dynamic alternative. New flexibility contracts must state the control system, scope, information process, remuneration, term and termination.[1, 7]
What did not change: there is still no single national tariff, and a dynamic tariff does not give the DSO an automatic dispatch right. The price signal, contractual control and limited statutory rights remain separate.
A low-price hour does not grant dispatch rights. A flexibility contract does not replace the tariff. A pilot market is not yet a standard product. Model each layer separately.
| Mechanism | How it works | What must be verified |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic network tariff[1] | A time-varying network-use price reflects forecast loading. The customer or EMS responds to the signal. | Eligibility, publication interval, API access, price bounds, power charges and the alternative standard tariff. |
| Contractual flexibility[7] | The DSO and flexibility holder agree how a controllable asset may be used for a grid purpose. | Control system, planned use, information process, remuneration, term, termination and operational constraints. |
| Guaranteed flexibility use[6, 7] | The DSO has narrowly defined statutory rights without a new contract: limited curtailment at the connection point and intervention during an immediate, substantial threat to secure grid operation. Guaranteed use is not remunerated. | Whether the statutory conditions apply, how the holder is informed, whether the 3% annual curtailment limit is relevant and how control is implemented. |
| Existing flexibility[7, 8] | Control exercised by the DSO through a control system before 1 January 2026 may continue unless the flexibility holder prohibits it under the prescribed opt-out process. | The pre-2026 arrangement, annual information, remuneration, operational scope and whether an effective opt-out has been made. |
| TSO–DSO coordination[9] | Swissgrid's published roadmap covers coordinated procurement and activation of distributed flexibility across grid levels. | Whether a product is operational in the relevant area. A published pilot or roadmap is not evidence of current availability. |
The first source of confusion is the word dynamic. A dynamic network tariff prices use of the local grid. It is different from a dynamic energy tariff linked to the cost of the electricity itself. ElCom notes that the new 2026 models are concentrated on network tariffs, while dynamic energy tariffs remain the exception.[2]
Article 18a's three-model choice is narrower: it governs the standard network-use tariff for the low-voltage Basiskundengruppe — end consumers in properties used year-round with annual consumption below 50 MWh. The separate 100,000 kWh threshold determines whether a customer may choose its energy supplier; it does not extend Article 18a's three-model choice to every customer in basic supply. Industrial sites outside the Article 18a group must therefore verify the local network-use product separately from their energy-supply contract.[7, 10]
The tariff may vary by hour according to the operator's forecast of network loading for the following day. That makes a controllable battery relevant, but it does not make every charging shift useful. The battery must be able to receive the signal, respect site and grid limits, and schedule around the rest of the industrial load. A cheaper energy component and a cheaper network-use window may not occur at the same time.
The first published products already show why a national assumption is unsafe. CKW, EKZ and Groupe E each expose a forward price signal, but the interval, price construction, eligibility and technical interface differ.
| Published 2026 example | Signal | Eligibility and control |
|---|---|---|
| CKW dynamic tariff[3] | An hourly network tariff for the following day, published through an API; the stated range is 0.1–32 Rp./kWh. | Offered to household and business customers. CKW recommends an EMS and notes that an unmanaged response can cost more than the standard tariff. |
| EKZ dynamic optional tariff[4] | Energy and network components change every 15 minutes. Values for the following day are available from 18:00. | For private and business customers below 100,000 kWh a year, with a communicating smart meter and compatible EMS. |
| Groupe E VARIO[5] | The network component is calculated in 15-minute intervals and published by 18:00 for the following day. Groupe E also publishes an integrated presentation combining network use with its PLUS energy product and other stated tariff components. | For customers below 100,000 kWh a year. A smart meter is required and an EMS is recommended. |
These examples illustrate tariff mechanics; they do not establish eligibility for a large industrial connection. EKZ and Groupe E expressly limit the products shown here to customers below 100,000 kWh a year. CKW publishes Home and Business variants, but applicability above the free-market threshold must be confirmed for the individual site.[3, 4, 5]
The full bill still matters. A dynamic per-kWh network charge may sit alongside a demand charge, energy supply, a separate metering tariff, municipal and cantonal levies and the federal network surcharge. Shifting consumption into a cheaper interval while creating a higher monthly peak can therefore increase another part of the bill.[1]
Under the 2026 framework, controllable consumption, storage and injection can constitute flexibility held by the end consumer, generator or storage operator. A DSO that wants to use new flexibility contractually must specify more than a price. Article 19b of the Electricity Supply Ordinance requires the agreement to cover the control system, planned scope of use, the information channel and frequency, remuneration, duration and termination.[6, 7]
That makes contractual flexibility operationally different from tariff response. With a tariff, the EMS observes a price and chooses a schedule. Under a contract, the DSO receives defined rights to use or constrain the asset within agreed boundaries. For an industrial BESS, those rights have to coexist with the site's load, production, backup requirements, connection limits and any other service commitments.
The regulation also requires DSOs to publish annually the information relevant to entering such contracts, particularly the remuneration rates. Publication does not mean that every operator needs the same flexibility in every part of its network. Its value is local by definition: relieving a constrained feeder is a different service from shifting consumption where the network is already uncongested.[7, 8]
For site modelling, contractual flexibility is not an extra line added after the battery has been sized. Control priority, availability and metering have to be designed into the operating logic.
Switzerland's distribution landscape remains fragmented. ElCom states that roughly 590 network operators had to publish and report their 2026 electricity tariffs by 31 August 2025. They work inside the same federal framework, but tariff design remains their responsibility within the statutory criteria, and local network conditions determine whether flexibility solves a real problem.[2]
This is the same structural feature that shapes Swiss BESS development. Two industrial sites with similar load profiles can face different tariff components, different APIs, different connection constraints and different interest from the DSO in controlling flexibility. A national assumption is therefore a weak starting point for a site-specific battery.
The correct sequence is local: identify the DSO and customer group, obtain the complete tariff sheet and product conditions, confirm the metering arrangement, and ask whether a flexibility product or contract is actually offered at that connection point. Only then can the battery dispatch be tested against the site's measured load.
The purpose of the first tariff review is not to assume a saving. It is to establish which price and control signals actually reach the site, and which technical constraints govern the response.
The exact customer group, voltage level, standard product and available dynamic alternative.
Publication timing, interval, API specification, upper and lower bounds, and historical profiles.
How monthly or time-varying power peaks are charged alongside the per-kWh network charge.
Whether site load, PV, battery charging and reinjection can be distinguished at the required resolution.
Which instruction takes priority when site optimisation, DSO use and other services compete.
Connection limits, state-of-charge reserves, cycling constraints and the site's non-negotiable load requirements.
Swissgrid's TSO–DSO Coordination project goes beyond one operator's tariff or bilateral contract. Its published model covers how batteries and other distributed resources could be offered and activated across local market areas while accounting for constraints at different grid levels. Participating companies include Swissgrid, several distribution operators and aggregators.[9]
Swissgrid's published phase-C timetable placed simulations and pilot work between March 2025 and spring 2026, followed by implementation preparation through spring 2027. The roadmap therefore supports treating coordinated flexibility as a mechanism still under development, not as a generally available product.[9]
This is the broader direction of travel: batteries are moving from being classified only as loads or generators towards being controllable grid resources. The commercial and technical interfaces are arriving operator by operator. Development discipline lies in distinguishing what exists at the connection point today from what a national roadmap may enable later—and in testing it against the behind-the-meter siting logic of the individual facility.
The regulatory and numerical claims above were checked against these primary public sources on 25 August 2026. Quotations are kept short; translations are identified.
A dynamic tariff as the standard option, based on next-day network load values.
Ohne EMS … können die Kosten sogar steigen.
CurvatureEnergy translation: “Without an EMS … costs can even rise.”
Endverbraucher in ganzjährig genutzten Liegenschaften mit einem Jahresverbrauch unter 50 MWh gehören der Basiskundengruppe an.
CurvatureEnergy translation: “End consumers in properties used year-round with annual consumption below 50 MWh belong to the base customer group.”
The contract between the flexibility holder and the DSO governing the use of flexibility regulates at least: […] remuneration; contract term; termination arrangements.Excerpted CurvatureEnergy translation from Article 19b; the article summarises all mandatory elements.
Resources such as batteries … are controlled so that they can respond to the changing demands of the grid.