Parliament does not want to save hydropower with "dirty electricity tax
Silvia Hunziker
Parliament does not want to introduce a tax on "dirty electricity". Following the National Council, on 26 September the Council of States also rejected a professional initiative by the Canton of Geneva. This proposes to use the yield for hydropower and other renewable energies. That settles the matter.
The canton intends to introduce the tax on electricity from non-renewable energy sources. Because electricity from gas-fired power stations is "cleaner" than that from coal-fired power stations, there would be a reduction if a guarantee of origin were available.
Geneva justifies the initiative with the low price of electricity in view of the overproduction of electricity in Europe. This, it says, jeopardises the economic viability of Swiss dams. At the same time, coal-fired power stations abroad are causing considerable CO2 emissions.
The Council of States rejected the initiative by 25 votes to 11 with 4 abstentions. It thus followed its energy commission. On behalf of the Commission, Werner Luginbühl (BDP/BE) said that hydropower operators would already benefit from the market premium and investment contributions.
The Commission also referred to the draft revision of the Electricity Supply Act, which is intended to determine the design of the electricity market in the future. The design of a tax on non-renewable energy sources would not be easy to reconcile with international trade law, the commission said.
A minority argued that a differentiated electricity levy should continue to be considered in order to effectively reduce imports of cheap electricity from coal-fired power plants. Material advice could easily be provided in the context of the revision of the Electricity Supply Act, explained Robert Cramer (Greens/EPP).
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