Deregulating Electricity Markets: The French Case

This case uses the example of EDF and of the European liberation of energy markets to study public-utility deregulation. While by 2002, more than 80% of the EU electricity market was open to competition, France has been slowing down its deregulation process. EDF, one of the largest and most successful utilities in the world is taking advantage of reduced competitive pressure to aggressively expand its stakes across Europe.

This case allows a deep understanding of the electricity market and a first step discussion on the specificities of network industries such as electricity, telecom or railways. Students will learn about the benefits of deregulation and the problems of �natural monopolies�. They will study the prerequisites for competition to work to the consumer�s interest in such industries.