ABSTRACT
Electricité de France (EdF) was founded in 1946 by a nationalisation law which expropriated the previously private power companies. It is the largest electricity company in the world. After the war, it was believed that only a public company, enjoying broad monopoly rights, could reconstruct and build up the French electricity system and make the necessary investments, especially in the countryside. Notably some municipal distribution companies remained outside of the monopoly, representing 5 per cent of consumption today. Regarding generation, some exemptions were granted to particularly small power stations or those used for self-generation. Over time, power generated by producers other than EdF has even decreased from 20 per cent in 1970, 15 per cent in 1980, to 6 per cent in 1994 (Poppe and Cauret 1997:206). EdF’s monopoly comprises ‘91 per cent of the installed power capacity, 94 per cent of electricity production, 95 per cent of the high-voltage (HV) transmission grid, and 95 per cent of electricity distribution’ (ibid.: 205). EdF is regulated by the Directorate of Gas, Electricity and Coal in the Ministry of Industry. Since 1982, ‘contract plans’ have been negotiated every four years to define objectives.
