For the typical private system: no. The feed-in tariff is a published tariff of your grid operator – it applies equally to everyone, and haggling is not provided for. What exists instead are four legal levers with the same effect: choosing the right remuneration model (where a choice exists), marketing the GO properly, checking LEG options – and pulling the biggest lever, which doesn't lie with the utility at all: self-consumption. (As of: July 2026)
Key points in brief
- Published feed-in tariffs are not a matter for negotiation – which, incidentally, also protects you: nobody with better connections at the utility gets more than you do.
- Lever 1 – model choice: individual utilities offer real options (AEW: fixed price or market; Winterthur: contract model) – the right choice brings real centimes.
- Lever 2 – GO: 1 to 3.5 Rp./kWh that only flows with active registration – the «most negotiable» amount is the one you've been leaving on the table so far.
- Lever 3 – LEG: since 2026 you may market surplus in the neighbourhood – the only way to actually switch the buyer.
- Lever 4 – self-consumption: every kWh not fed in escapes the tariff question entirely – and is worth several times as much.
- Exception to the rule: large systems over 150 kW – that's where real marketing freedom begins.
Why there is nothing to negotiate on the tariff
The feed-in tariff is part of the regulated relationship between grid operator and producer: the utility publishes its rates, they apply equally to all systems in the grid area, and since 2026 the Electricity Act has also set guardrails – reference market price as the standard, minimum remuneration as the floor. A call saying «for 10 kWp, couldn't you meet me halfway» therefore goes nowhere – not out of unwillingness, but because individual discounts simply aren't provided for in this system.
The good news lies in the same principle: equal treatment protects the small players. Your 10 kWp system receives exactly the same published rate as any other – market power plays no role. Room for negotiation only arises where the law provides for it: for large systems (more on that at the end).
Lever 1: choosing the right model – where models exist
«Not negotiable» does not mean «no alternative». Individual utilities offer real choices, and the choice is real money:
- AEW (Aargau): Fixed price of 8.2 Rp. including GO, or the reference market price – selectable per calendar year, with submission deadlines. Anyone who never chooses stays on the default – and that doesn't suit every profile.
- Stadtwerk Winterthur: without a contract model, you only get the bare market price without the GO – here the contract isn't an upgrade, it's mandatory.
- Dynamic tariffs: new products are emerging for consumption (and, going forward, feed-in) – what is already possible today.
The «negotiating success» therefore lies in reading the tariff sheets, not in a phone call: same utility, same system – depending on the chosen product, several hundred francs difference per year.
Lever 2: not leaving the GO on the table
The largest «negotiable» amount, for most systems, is the one that was never claimed at all: the GO remuneration of 1.0 to 3.5 Rp./kWh. It almost never flows automatically – registration with Pronovo, a standing order to the utility, and with individual utilities explicit applications and deadlines. Anyone properly registered here has effectively «renegotiated» their remuneration by 10–30 percent – with forms instead of haggling.
Lever 3: switching the buyer – the LEG
Until 2025 there was exactly one buyer for your surplus: the local utility. Since 2026 that is no longer the case – in a local electricity community you sell to the neighbourhood, on terms you agree yourselves. This is the only real «marketplace» for private producers: in the City of Zurich, ewz.solarquartier brings 14 instead of the average 12.91 Rp.; elsewhere, offerings are just emerging. For large roofs with a lot of surplus, the LEG option belongs in every marketing consideration today.
Lever 4: the tariff you set yourself
The most effective lever has nothing to do with the utility: every kilowatt-hour you consume yourself escapes the tariff question entirely – it replaces purchased electricity at 25–35 Rp. instead of earning 6–14 Rp. from feed-in. Shift consumption into sunshine hours, couple your heat pump and EV, check a battery: optimise self-consumption is the negotiation you can win every day.
The exception: large systems
Above 150 kW, the protected world of minimum remuneration ends – and real marketing begins: direct marketing via traders, long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), flexibility products. That is where actual negotiation happens – with market knowledge and contracts. For large agricultural, commercial and apartment-building roofs this is its own advisory topic; for the single-family home it remains out of reach – and given the protective floor beneath it, that is no loss.
The question about negotiating often comes from a correct observation: «My neighbour in the city gets 13 centimes, I only get 9 – surely something can be done.» The honest answer has two parts. First: no, the neighbouring utility's tariff is out of reach for you – the grid operator is tied to the address. Second, and more important: with almost every system that asks us this question, we find unused centimes within their own grid area – a GO application that was never filed, a default model instead of the better choice, a boiler that heats at midnight. Added together, this regularly exceeds by far the «room for negotiation» that never existed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a better feed-in tariff by switching to a different electricity supplier?
No – feed-in always runs via the local grid operator, which cannot be chosen. Supplier choice for purchased electricity (market access) is a different topic and is in any case not (yet) open for households.
Is it worth asking the utility for better terms?
For a discount: no. About the available models and products: absolutely – that is exactly where the legal differences lie. The right question is not «can you do something on the price?» but «which remuneration products do you offer, and which one fits my profile?».
My utility pays noticeably less than the neighbouring municipality – can I do anything about it?
As long as the statutory minimum remuneration is respected: no, that is permissible tariff design. If a utility falls below the floor or refuses to take the feed-in or pay out the GO, ElCom is the way to go.
Does a battery change anything about my «negotiating position»?
Not with the utility – but it shifts kilowatt-hours from the weak side (feed-in) to the strong one (self-consumption). Economically, that is exactly what a tariff increase would be – just self-made.
Does all this also apply to ZEV and apartment buildings?
Yes – ZEV surplus is remunerated like any feed-in at the published tariff (details). Internal electricity sales within the ZEV follow their own rules and can actually be shaped – within the guardrails of tenant protection.
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Sources: Electricity Act/Energy Ordinance (remuneration rules), tariff sheets of the regional grid operators, ElCom.
Last updated: 9 July 2026 · Author: ecoEn editorial team
