Federal Electricity Commission
The Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom) ( French Commission fédérale de l'électricité , Italian Commissione federale dell'energia elettrica ) is the state regulatory authority for the Swiss electricity market , which monitors compliance with the Electricity Supply Act .
As part of the electricity market regulation in Switzerland since 2008, ElCom aims to ensure that the operators of the electricity grids do not abuse their dominant positions. To this end, ElCom can ex officio order price reductions or prohibit price increases if the charges published by the network operators are too high. The Commission also acts as an independent judicial body in disputes relating to electricity tariffs , network usage charges or network access . An appeal can be made to the Federal Administrative Court against the decisions of the Electricity Commission .
ElCom also has the task of monitoring the development of the electricity markets with regard to security of supply. If there is evidence of a significant threat to security of supply in the medium or long term, it must submit proposals to the Federal Council .
The commission set up in June 2007 has seven members and is chaired by Carlo Schmid-Sutter . The commission is supported by a secretariat based in Bern .