Legislation governing energy

Here you will find information about the main legal instruments for the federal government in the area of energy.

All federal acts and ordinances are kept in the systematic collection of federal legislation.

Energy is dealt with in Chapter 7 of the systematic collection of federal legislation under the general heading, “Public works, Energy, Transport and Communications”.

The main spheres of activity within the Swiss Federal Office of Energy are referred to in the following sections. The Energy Act and its associated ordinance bear section numbers 730 and 730.01, which form the legal basis for the implementation of the SwissEnergy programme. Nuclear energy is dealt with in section 732, electrical installations in section 734 and pipelines (gas and oil) in section 746.

The provisions governing the utilisation of hydropower are laid down in the Federal Hydropower Act (721.80) and its associated ordinances. The security of dams is covered by the Hydraulic Engineering Act (721.10) and the Dams Ordinance (721.102).

In certain cases, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy is the relevant authority for approving plans for systems intended for the transport of energy, e.g. pipelines and electricity transmission lines. In the latter area it deals with plans for which the technical authority, the Federal Inspectorate for High-Current Installations, has not been able to overcome opposition. In the area of nuclear energy, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy is responsible for issuing certain permits, namely those concerning the transport of nuclear fuels. In the area of utilisation of hydropower, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy is the highest supervisory authority, is responsible for licensing procedures realting to hydropower plants located on the country's borders, and directly supervises major dams.

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Erläuterung der einzelnen Bestimmungen; Änderung der Energieverordnung und der Stromversorgungsverordnung

Publication date: 01.11.2016
Type of document: PDF
Size: 251 KB
Source: –
Download file: DE | FR | IT | EN ID: 8555
Erläuterungen zu den einzelnen Bestimmungen. Änderung der Verordnung über die Reduktion der CO2-Emissionen (CO2-Verordnung, SR 641.711)

Publication date: 01.06.2016
Type of document: PDF
Size: 146 KB
Download file: DE | FR | IT | EN ID: 10682
Erläuterung der einzelnen Bestimmungen. Änderung der Energieverordnung vom 7. Dezember 1998 (EnV; SR 730.01), der Luftreinhalteverordnung vom 16. Dezember 1985 (LRV; SR 814.318.142.1) und der Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen von nach ausländischen technischen Vorschriften hergestellten Produkten und über deren Überwachung auf dem Markt vom 19. Mai 2010 (VIPaV; SR 946.513.8V)

Publication date: 01.06.2016
Type of document: PDF
Size: 369 KB
Download file: DE | FR | IT | EN ID: 10683
Erläuterungen. Revision der Energieverordnung (EnV): Erhöhung des Zuschlags nach Art. 15b des Energiegesetzes (Art. 3j Abs. 1 EnV)

Publication date: 01.06.2016
Type of document: PDF
Size: 327 KB
Download file: DE | FR | IT | EN ID: 10684
Verordnung über elektrische Niederspannungserzeugnisse (NEV; SR 734.26), Totalrevision. Erläuternder Bericht

Publication date: 30.10.2015
Type of document: PDF
Size: 386 KB
Source: –
Download file: DE | FR | IT | EN ID: 7870
Verordnung über Geräte und Schutzsysteme zur Verwendung in explosionsgefährdeten Bereichen (VGSEB; SR 734.6), Totalrevision. Erläuternder Bericht

Publication date: 30.10.2015
Type of document: PDF
Size: 341 KB
Source: –
Download file: DE | FR | IT | EN ID: 7872