The general public myth vs the real SME pain
When French-speaking people complained that their annual bill had increased by 300 CHF, bakers, sawmills or EMS who had abandoned (often due to energy constraints) supply at the public base rate sometimes read incomprehension. They received increases costing tens of thousands of francs, ruining thin net margins. The free market (on the European Spot) has crushed many SMEs. To provide “energy insurance” over the decade, the roof of the building, if they own it, is a powerful financial lever.
Why not buy the PV installation yourself?
A factory with 30 CNCs easily requires 80 to 200 kWp on the flat roof. Company investment: almost CHF 200'000. This is the heart of the error. An artisan fund is intended to finance R&D, stock, or new ovens. Diluting EBITDA or creating heavy depreciation to afford an energy shield hinders the expansion of the real business. “Contracting” manages this masterful transfer of risk.
The immovable freeze of the internal feed-in tariff
If you sign a pact in Contracting Act A: the third-party operator manages maintenance, inverters, insurance, cleaning. On the intramural meter, the latter bills you for “roof-to-factory” energy at 15 cents for 20 years. In 5 years, if the geopolitical crisis propels ElCom to 45 cents? The craftsman smiles. His bread is always baked for 15 cents. This predictability of fixed operating costs offers a terrible force against market competitors who must panickedly increase sales prices to wipe out occasional hyperinflation.