140 Oscar Van Vliet
and second, most of the utilities operating in the Swiss market are majority- owned
by municipalities and cantons.
The direct democracy is exemplified in the Swiss system of Volksinitiativen
(‘People’s Initiatives’). With a limited number of signatures (100,000 for a
national initiative), any citizen can request a municipal, cantonal, or federal government to consider a specific action. If the government will not implement it out
of hand, they can call a referendum on municipal, cantonal, or federal level to
change policy. If a referendum passes, it becomes law in the same way as a constitutional change – parliament and the executive have no legal way of overthrowing the results.
The political landscape in Switzerland is strongly influenced by the Volksinitiativen as it is effectively impossible for any minority or collection of interest groups
to directly impose their will on a majority of the populace. As a result, the entire
political culture is strongly disposed towards compromise and consensus building.
For example, the top executive decisions are made by a Federal Council of seven,
who currently include members from four different parties, instead of having a
single head of government.
The current strategy of the Swiss federal government is officially documented
in the Energieperspektiven 2050 report (EP2050),
1
which essentially functions
as a white paper (BfE, 2013). However, for all its length, the EP2050 report is
vague on implementation: its main thrusts are efficiency, especially in buildings,
e.g. replacing oil heating with more efficient heat pumps, further electrifying
transportation, replacing Swiss nuclear power with Swiss domestic renewables,
and a larger role for (existing) hydropower and rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV)
panels. This new renewable electricity capacity is to generate 20% of Swiss
supply by 2035, or around 12 TWh. The federal government is opting for natural
gas power plants and imports of foreign renewables as a stopgap measure in case
domestic renewable capacity does not expand fast enough.
The first phase of the Swiss ES2050 was passed into law by parliament in
2016. The Swiss parliament added several changes in the process, including a
support package for hydropower, which has been economically less viable due to
current low wholesale electricity prices. The new energy law was opposed and
immediately challenged by one of the larger parties in parliament (see Überparteiliches Komitee gegen das Energiegesetz, 2016) but the Swiss voted to keep
the law in a referendum (Der Bundesrat, 2017). The Bundesamt für Energie
(BfE – Ministry for Energy) is currently working on the next phase of the
ES2050.
If Switzerland is serious about replacing nuclear, it has four options available.
The first is to use domestic renewables, mostly by expanding the number of solar
panels and wind turbines. The second is to import renewables from foreign
countries. These two seem the most likely and currently enjoy the support of a
large majority of Swiss citizens in surveys (see following text). We will explore
the risks and challenges that come with these options in detail over the next
sections.
and second, most of the utilities operating in the Swiss market are majority- owned
by municipalities and cantons.
The direct democracy is exemplified in the Swiss system of Volksinitiativen
(‘People’s Initiatives’). With a limited number of signatures (100,000 for a
national initiative), any citizen can request a municipal, cantonal, or federal government to consider a specific action. If the government will not implement it out
of hand, they can call a referendum on municipal, cantonal, or federal level to
change policy. If a referendum passes, it becomes law in the same way as a constitutional change – parliament and the executive have no legal way of overthrowing the results.
The political landscape in Switzerland is strongly influenced by the Volksinitiativen as it is effectively impossible for any minority or collection of interest groups
to directly impose their will on a majority of the populace. As a result, the entire
political culture is strongly disposed towards compromise and consensus building.
For example, the top executive decisions are made by a Federal Council of seven,
who currently include members from four different parties, instead of having a
single head of government.
The current strategy of the Swiss federal government is officially documented
in the Energieperspektiven 2050 report (EP2050),
1
which essentially functions
as a white paper (BfE, 2013). However, for all its length, the EP2050 report is
vague on implementation: its main thrusts are efficiency, especially in buildings,
e.g. replacing oil heating with more efficient heat pumps, further electrifying
transportation, replacing Swiss nuclear power with Swiss domestic renewables,
and a larger role for (existing) hydropower and rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV)
panels. This new renewable electricity capacity is to generate 20% of Swiss
supply by 2035, or around 12 TWh. The federal government is opting for natural
gas power plants and imports of foreign renewables as a stopgap measure in case
domestic renewable capacity does not expand fast enough.
The first phase of the Swiss ES2050 was passed into law by parliament in
2016. The Swiss parliament added several changes in the process, including a
support package for hydropower, which has been economically less viable due to
current low wholesale electricity prices. The new energy law was opposed and
immediately challenged by one of the larger parties in parliament (see Überparteiliches Komitee gegen das Energiegesetz, 2016) but the Swiss voted to keep
the law in a referendum (Der Bundesrat, 2017). The Bundesamt für Energie
(BfE – Ministry for Energy) is currently working on the next phase of the
ES2050.
If Switzerland is serious about replacing nuclear, it has four options available.
The first is to use domestic renewables, mostly by expanding the number of solar
panels and wind turbines. The second is to import renewables from foreign
countries. These two seem the most likely and currently enjoy the support of a
large majority of Swiss citizens in surveys (see following text). We will explore
the risks and challenges that come with these options in detail over the next
sections.