In order to ensure a secure power supply in the future, cutbacks in nature and environmental protection are unavoidable. However, bourgeois councilors have lost their sense of proportion when it came to realigning energy policy.
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the energy crisis has worsened dramatically, and the supply problems with electricity and gas are becoming increasingly evident in Switzerland too. Now it’s taking its revenge on politicians for years to avoid solving the problem.
And suddenly Parliament can’t move fast enough: last week the small chamber decided that solar cells should be mandatory on all new buildings in the future. At the same time, the Council of States pushed the so-called “Lex Bodenmann” through the Council in an emergency procedure: It allows large areas in the mountains to be built on with solar panels with immediate effect. This is no less than a liberating act: Up to now, the construction of photovoltaic systems on greenfield sites in Switzerland could not actually be approved. Politicians are now clearing the way for the projects in Gondo and Grengiols in Valais, with the latter alone providing for solar panels covering an area of 700 football pitches.
The two state councilors Ruedi Noser (Zurich, FDP) and Beat Rieder (Valais, center) developed the solar master plan. And it is downright revolutionary for the otherwise rather sluggish Swiss political establishment. Because he undermines all the procedural regulations, including the environmental impact assessment, and thus ensures the necessary speed in the implementation of the two major projects. A simple building permit is sufficient.
Electricity policy with the bulldozer could fail
But the bold plan of the Council of States to use solar panels in the Valais Alps to bridge the power gap in the winter electricity is now in danger of failing. The verdict of the Federal Office of Justice is that the legal basis for such a bulldozer policy is too weak. This comes to the conclusion that the procedure in the previous variant would violate constitutional law. This shows that those who do not do their homework in politically quiet times stumble when time is of the essence.
The next fundamental course in energy policy, which will be negotiated in the small chamber in the coming days with the so-called “mantle decree for electricity”, is all the more important. A radical expansion of electricity production capacities is once again on the agenda of the Council of States. But this time it’s not just about pounding large projects out of the ground quickly to prevent shortages. Rather, the aim is to put the power supply back on a healthy footing in the longer term.
In order for this to succeed, the preliminary advisory commission is planning nothing less than the erosion of environmental protection as we know it today. Not only do the councils of states want to prioritize the national interest in electricity production over environmental and landscape protection as long as the expansion targets are not achieved. Energy systems should also be allowed to be built anywhere in the future – even in the ecologically most valuable areas of Switzerland: the biotopes of national importance. Old project ideas for power plants could soon be reactivated for wild mountain valleys such as the Greina plain, the Val Roseg, the Zinal valley or the Maderaner valley.
Elsewhere, too, there are plans to overturn the existing environmental regulations: the current laws provide that the operators of hydroelectric power plants must provide more water in the streams and rivers downstream of the power plants when the concession is renewed. This is intended to stop the extinction of species in aquatic life and especially fish. In order to be able to produce more electricity, the Council of States wants to repeal this regulation by 2035.
Such a relaxation of environmental regulations would massively accelerate the expansion of renewables. And that is also urgently needed. It is true that more solar modules have recently been installed on Swiss roofs and facades. However, the current rate of expansion of renewables is not sufficient to cover the long-term electricity demand, which will increase sharply in the course of decarbonization. Even skeptics are now recognizing that Switzerland must use its potential to provide itself with energy much more consistently, be it with hydroelectric power, photovoltaics, biomass or wind power.
Clear blockage during power expansion
Last but not least, it must be ensured that the blockade in the construction of new large power plants finally comes to an end. If electricity production is given priority over nature conservation, environmental groups will find it difficult to prevent important energy projects such as raising the Grimselsee dam wall or the construction of a new storage lake on the Trift with complaints for decades.
The preliminary advisory commission is therefore aiming in the right direction with its proposals. However, she has lost her sense of proportion out of sheer fear of energy shortages. It is disproportionate to undermine all principles of environmental, landscape and nature conservation and also throw the protection of biotopes overboard. The latter make up just two percent of the country’s area. However, they are home to a third of all animal species threatened in Switzerland. If the protection of these areas is sacrificed, little is achieved for energy production, but species extinction is exacerbated.
The same applies to the planned suspension of the residual water regulations. Since only a manageable number of hydroelectric power plants will have their concession renewed by 2035, only little additional electricity would be generated; however, the ecological damage would be significant. In addition, the existing law already allows the requirements to be relaxed in emergencies.
If the Council of States chooses the wooden hammer method for environmental protection, it is disregarding compromises that have been negotiated with the environmental associations. The protection of biotopes, for example, was developed in the course of deliberations on the Energy Strategy 2050. In return, the provisions for the much more comprehensive Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments (BLN) have been weakened. In the case of residual water, a consensus negotiated with the fishermen on the discharge quantities would be broken before this has been implemented in most waters.
It is therefore almost certain that the environmental organizations would hold a referendum against such a decree – in the knowledge that nature conservation enjoys great support among the population. Another loss of time of at least a year would be unavoidable. At the same time, the reform would face a scenario similar to that of CO2law last year, which the SVP sunk in tandem with radical climate deniers. The result would be years of standstill in energy policy; i.e. the exact opposite of what Switzerland needs in the current situation.
The SVP as a bridge builder
Jakob Stark, an SVP exponent of all people, shows how Switzerland could increase the capacities of electricity production in a gentler way. The Thurgau Council of States, together with representatives of the Greens, is committed to ensuring that the interests of use should only take precedence over the interests of protection in those energy projects which, after weighing up their energy value and impact on biodiversity, are classified as having priority. This limited number of projects is then put on a list that is written into law and is periodically reviewed and renewed.
Stark’s proposal is based on the “hydropower round table” convened by Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga. After months of wrangling, the electricity industry, the cantons and the environmental organizations agreed on a list of fifteen dams that are to be built or raised. Stark, together with his party colleague Albert Rösti, would like to convert this list into binding law. The realization of these projects could then no longer be prevented.
The same mechanism should not only be introduced for hydropower, but also for large solar and wind power plants. In return, the SVP politician’s compromise proposal dispenses with lifting the protection of the biotopes – an exception would, however, allow the construction of reservoirs on protected glacier forefields that are becoming free due to global warming. He also refrains from reducing the residual water quantities.
This clever variant would provide a strong foundation for a rapid expansion of electricity production in Switzerland – but without sacrificing environmental protection for electricity production. At the same time, it would offer the chance for all parties from left to right to stand behind the reform. If such a close alliance succeeds, Switzerland has a good chance of mastering the enormous energy policy challenges of the future.