Facts
The Canton of Grisons, as the client and owner, had a telephone cable (hereinafter "NT cable") installed, necessary for the operation of the N 13 national road. This low-current cable runs parallel to the 380 kV Soazza-Sils high-voltage line owned by Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG on certain sections. At certain locations, the NT cable and the high-voltage line intersect. The Canton of Grisons requested that Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG be ordered to pay two-thirds of the additional costs for the protective measures against the inductive influence of the high-voltage line on the NT cable, i.e., a total of 155,908 Swiss francs.Considerations
The Federal Court ruled that Art. 45 of the Federal Roads Act (NHwA) was applicable in this case, and not Art. 17 of the Electricity Supply Act (ElecA). According to Art. 45 NHwA, the costs of all necessary measures to remedy an impairment caused by a new national road to existing installations, such as power lines, must be borne by the new installation, in this case the national road.
The Court considered that this priority rule of Art. 45 NHwA should apply generally, including when it is an existing installation (the high-voltage line) that impairs a new installation (the NT cable of the national road), even…