Water, energy and the utilities

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The infrastructure of an industrial economy includes its utilities, whose history in Zug reflects the history of its industry. The Wasserwerke Zug, created in 1892 from the merger of the water supply company and the gas works of the town, supplied water, gas and later electricity to the growing industrial town.¹ Its successor, the regional utility WWZ, today supplies energy, water and telecommunications services in the canton and beyond.² The utility has participated in the development of new energy systems for the canton, including the use of lake water for heating and cooling in the town of Zug.³

For the headquarters economy, the utilities matter in a practical way. The data centres, laboratories and production facilities of the companies in Zug require a reliable supply of electricity, which the international groups increasingly require to be renewable, to meet their own climate commitments and the expectations of their investors. A canton that can offer its companies renewable energy, district heating and cooling from the lake and a modern telecommunications network adds a further element to its offer. The transformation of former industrial sites such as the Metall Zug area into technology clusters with their own energy systems reflects this development.

Notes

1. Zug in der Welt, "Zugs zweite Industrialisierung 1880–1913": acquisition of the gas works by the Wasserversorgung Zug in 1890 and reorganisation as Wasserwerke Zug in 1892. ↩
2. WWZ AG, "Über uns", wwz.ch: founded in 1892 with origins in 1878; supplies energy, water and telecommunications to the population and economy of the canton of Zug and the surrounding region; more than 550 employees; around 5,000 private shareholders, with roughly one third of the shares held by public bodies. ↩
3. WWZ AG, "Circulago", wwz.ch/de/circulago: heating and cooling network supplying the town of Zug and Baar-Süd with water drawn from Lake Zug at a depth of 26 metres about 400 metres offshore; phased expansion until 2035; up to 50 per cent of local heating and cooling demand and savings of about 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.