He had spent most of his professional life at EDF, until he became its general manager, between 1987 and 1994, then made an eventful and short-lived stint as president of SNCF (1994-1995). Jean Bergougnoux died on September 3, at the age of 83, without his taste for the world of energy, and more broadly for major infrastructure projects, technological innovations and public affairs, having blunted over time.
The classic career path is that of a leader with a profile that is more economic than industrial. A graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and then of the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration, he began his career at Insee and continued it at the Ministry of Industry, before joining, in 1970, EDF.
Like his “master” Marcel Boiteux, historical boss of the company, who died a few days after him, on September 6, at the age of 101, he first directed the economic studies department, then the strategy of the business. He took over the general management of EDF in 1987, when the European Commission was busy liberalizing the electricity market.
Aware that the public monopoly will be plunged into the deep end of competition and that the electricity groups will be both competitors and interconnected on the market through their high voltage lines, he created in Brussels, in 1989, the Eurelectric association, of which he is the first president. It must defend the interests of large utilities electricity, large public companies, and invest in the decarbonization of power plants. Mr. Bergougnoux will pursue this objective with the creation, in 2011, of the Equilibre des energies association.
A nothing “old France” with his eternal bow tie, the man had held on to EDF, forming, at the start of his mandate, a united and complementary tandem with the president, Pierre Delaporte. But, in May 1994, after twenty-four years at EDF, the boss moved to management of the SNCF, called by the Balladur government. Mr. Bergougnoux will have time to put the Eurostar into service, which then connects Paris to London in three hours, and to create a joint SNCF-RATP ticket in Ile-de-France. Cautious, he judges “unachievable” a minimum service already under debate. “EDF gave the SNCF its most beautiful computer as a gift”, we joke in the house he is going to leave. Unfair? The CFDT regrets this massive leader with the false air of the tenor Pavarotti. Not the powerful CGT.
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