St Gallen plans to repay customers after gas charge ruling

St Gallen plans to return about three million Swiss francs in gas charges collected over the past five years after losing a legal dispute over its pricing, SRF reported. The ruling is final after the Federal Supreme Court declined to hear the city’s appeal.

The case was brought by a customer who argued that the city had raised gas prices beyond what was needed to cover costs, violating the cost-recovery principle. The St Gallen Administrative Court criticised the city’s practices and ruled that charges should be reduced by the full amount of the surplus.

The court also found that surplus revenue had likely been used to subsidise discounts for large customers and had flowed into the city’s general budget, where it was included in financial planning.

The city announced three months ago that it intended to repay three million francs for the past five years. Because the amount would be divided among thousands of customers, it is still working out how to make the payments, city councillor Peter Jans said. The city parliament must approve a loan, and a decision on any refunds is not expected before early 2027.

Legally, a gas bill is considered accepted once it has been paid, meaning the customer who brought the case would ordinarily be the only one entitled to a refund. The city says it will nevertheless proceed with its proposed repayments.

St Gallen says an external analysis of its practices is expected to take until the end of the year. The review will also examine transfers from the city utilities to the general budget. Going forward, the city says such transfers will need a clear justification and calculation.