Quick quiz: what is Vaz/Obervaz? a) An alpine family paradise at the foot of the Rothorn? b) A self-styled ‘Bike Kingdom’, less than two hours from Zurich? c) Home to Roger Federer and Magdalena Martullo-Blocher?
OK, that was a trick question. The answer is: all of the above.
We sat down with Mayor Aron Moser during his lunch break over a plate of capuns, a typical Grisons meal of spaetzle and dried meat rolled in chard leaves. While he is pleased with the good reputation that Vaz/Obervaz enjoys, he would like to see wider recognition of a key fact about the area: ‘Our municipality is one of the most sustainable in Switzerland,’ says Aron Moser, ‘but not enough people know about it.’
Vaz/Obervaz received the Energy City label in 2003 – ‘the first time it was awarded in the Canton of Grisons,’ as the mayor points out. The label is testament to the Alpine locale’s status as a role model in implementing sustainable energy policies at the municipal level. Further energy certifications followed in 2007, 2012 and 2016 and this year – with any luck – will bring the high point: Vaz/Obervaz may receive the ‘Energy City Gold’ (in German) label. This is the ‘highest recognition for towns and municipalities that demonstrate a consistent commitment to efficient use of energy, renewable energies and climate protection,’ as the EnergieSchweiz website explains.
‘We’ve grown together, and together we’re promoting sustainability.’
For Aron Moser, there is no doubt: ‘None of these distinctions would have been possible without ewz.’ The municipality’s history is closely intertwined with the history of the Zurich Municipal Electric Utility (ewz). It all started back in July 1900, when the Vaz/Obervaz municipality granted the city of Zurich the right to set up an electricity plant in Solis, on the Albula river. The city of Zurich undertook to pay a one-time fee, as well as an annual charge. Early on the municipality also received 150 HP of electricity free of charge. ‘The relationship between ewz and Vaz/Obervaz reaches back over 100 years. We’ve grown together,’ says Aron Moser, ‘and together we’re promoting sustainability.’
ewz.tranche: Vaz/Obervaz and ewz are setting the industry standard
That means constantly forging new pathways: ‘In 2013 we worked with ewz to develop a new, innovative solution: the tranche,’ says Edgar Bisig, head of the plant, who is responsible for electricity purchasing in Vaz/Obervaz. To reduce its exposure to sharp fluctuations in electricity prices, the municipality can lock in the price for a certain volume of electricity – a tranche. Vaz/Obervaz defines 30 of these partial quantities per year. ‘It makes it easier to plan our electricity spending,’ says Bisig. ‘The price is balanced out; we’re not hit by every wave, which results in an attractive price over the long term.’ The idea of the tranche originally came from an ewz employee who had previously worked in the raw materials sector, where this type of model is widespread. Today tranches are a standard means of electricity procurement in the industry.
‘It makes it easier to plan our electricity spending.’
‘The cooperation with the municipality is really outstanding,’ says Aurelio Capeder, ewz’s Head of Purchasing and Consultation for the Grisons market. ‘We’ve known each a long time, and we trust each other.’ Currently, 30 ewz customers benefit from the tranche solution, yet Vaz/Obervaz still stands out. ‘The municipality purchases specific tranches for cable cars, SMEs and hotels, and for all the other end customers,’ explains Aurelio Capeder. Because these groups of end customers each has a specific usage profile, they are arranged into ‘pools’.
‘None of these businesses wants to worry about electricity purchasing,’ says Edgar Bisig. ‘A hotel, a restaurant or a bike shop – they’re happy that the tranche solution gives them a good price that is relatively constant and transparent.’ It is also a question of trust. ‘These businesses know that we stand behind them and do everything we can for them,’ says Edgar Bisig.
You determine your individual procurement strategy with us, and gradually cover your annual electricity needs with partial quantities. By distributing this across various purchasing times, you optimise the average overall price of your electricity supply.
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Aurelio Capeder
Head of Sales and Consultation for ewz in the Grisons
Phone
+41 (0) 58 319 69 62
Email:
aurelio.capeder@ewz.ch
The people want sustainability
In total, the Vaz/Obervaz (in German) plant supplies around 5,800 end customers with ewz electricity. Together they consume over 50 million kWh per year produced from nothing but Swiss hydroelectric power. In the Canton of Grisons alone, ewz operates 12 hydropower plants. ‘There is no grey energy throughout the whole of Vaz/Obervaz, even in the basic supply system,’ says Edgar Bisig, head of the plant. On top of that, consumers are required to moderate their consumption. ‘We tell them: install a remote control for the heating and only turn it on when you’re using it,’ says Bisig, ‘and we offer consulting services to support facade and heating refurbishment.’ The message remains the same: residents have to use electricity sparingly.
‘There is no grey energy throughout the whole of Vaz/Obervaz, even in the basic supply system.’
‘We aim to truly exemplify the “Energy City” label,’ says Mayor Aron Moser. He points to small-scale projects like the solar lighting fitted in every new bus stop, and larger projects like the huge photovoltaic plant on the Lenzerheide sports centre (in German) which supplies up to 186,000 kilowatt hours each year. ‘During the season we reach 100 per cent self-consumption,’ explains Aron Moser. ewz helped establish the photovoltaic plant, just like it supported the first electric sports bus in the canton. Making its début in the 2019/20 season, the bus has attracted the Zauberwald Lenzerheide (a sustainable music and light festival) as primary sponsor.
The population of the five wards (Lenzerheide, Valbella, Lain, Muldain and Zorten), plus the hamlet of Obersolis, all support the sustainability policy of the Vaz/Obervaz municipality. ‘All the voting on this subject leaves no doubt. The public wants this policy,’ says Mayor Aron Moser. He is truly driven, with the next projects already in planning; the first 30-kilometre per hour zone, year-round electric bus operations (‘the new bus looks great’) and – looking ahead around five years – the expansion of the heating network.
After a quick stop at the new town hall – naturally built to Minergie P standards – we leave Lenzerheide. By the wayside we see a large turbine wheel with an ewz logo. A partnership with 100 years of history also stands for a sustainable future.
