Value for money and regionality determine the energy suppliers of tomorrow
The Energy Supply Atlas from YouGov Switzerland provides a picture of perceptions, market mechanisms and expectations in the energy sector. Price increases, geopolitical tensions and the ongoing debate about full market liberalization have increased awareness of the industry and changed people's expectations, according to one conclusion.
The new EVU market atlas from YouGov Switzerland (formerly known as LINK Marketing Services AG), based on over 18,000 respondents from 2021, 2023 and 2025, investigated how the population perceives Switzerland's 29 largest energy suppliers and what would be important when choosing a supplier.
Media visibility with the big players - local anchoring with small energy supply companies
The results show a remarkable stability of awareness: national providers such as Axpo or Alpiq remain present in people's minds even though they do not supply private customers, while large regional energy supply companies (EVU) such as BKW, EKZ, IWB or CKW also enjoy high visibility. Smaller suppliers remain locally anchored, while targeted communication has led to noticeable increases for several energy supply companies.
The perception of regionality remains an emotionally important factor and clearly shows how strongly many Swiss people identify with their local provider. Energy supply companies such as SAK, Elektra Baselland and EKS Schaffhausen received particularly high scores here. In western Switzerland, volatility is significantly higher, which indicates a stronger reaction of the population to political and price-related debates. The perception of price-performance is developing even more dynamically, having improved significantly for several energy supply companies between 2023 and 2025, while national providers are still clearly lagging behind.
Value for money and regional roots are the biggest drivers of consideration
A key finding of YouGov Switzerland's statistical model is that, among the characteristics surveyed, two factors in particular increase the likelihood that an energy supply company will be shortlisted: perceived value for money and regional presence. Both show a clear and statistically robust correlation with consideration. If a provider is perceived as attractive in terms of price, the probability of consideration increases significantly; if it is perceived as regionally anchored, this also increases trust and willingness to choose. At the same time, there is a slight negative trend over the years: the population is becoming more cautious overall when assessing potential energy supply companies - a possible consequence of the energy policy uncertainty of recent years.
Dissatisfaction higher in French-speaking Switzerland, willingness to switch higher in German-speaking Switzerland
Satisfaction with one's own energy supplier fell noticeably in 2023, but recovered slightly in 2025. Western Switzerland is particularly striking, where the proportion of people who are clearly dissatisfied is three times higher than in German-speaking Switzerland. Yet it is precisely there that the proportion of people with a very low risk of change is highest. This paradoxical pattern is typical of regulated markets: attitudes change even without freedom of choice, but they only translate into behavior when there are real alternatives. The hypothetical willingness to switch has increased significantly since 2021 and will be around 17% in 2025. This means that one in six people would certainly be willing to switch today if they could.
The study shows a clear correlation between the price-performance and regionality factors surveyed and the likelihood that an energy supply company will be shortlisted. At the same time, there are clear differences between the regions: while the willingness to switch is higher in German-speaking Switzerland and active loyalty management is required, a sudden and strong impulse to switch could arise in western Switzerland in the event of market liberalization. Overall, it is becoming apparent that the electricity customer of tomorrow will be more informed, more demanding and more selective than the customer of yesterday. Who they belong to will not be decided by historical structures, but by transparency, price fairness and genuine proximity to the population.
