Giving Sense To CSR Performance: The Example Of An Electricity Grid Operator

RTE is the French electricity transmission grid operator, and thus fulfils a crucialmission for the economic and social development of the country: it makes sure thatenergy production and energy demand match at every time, regardless of theirrespective fluctuations.This role is the core responsibility of the company, but not its only one: RTE isalso expected to realize this mission in a sustainable manner, which means with care forits employees and for the environment and society it operates in. This vision of a broadresponsibility for companies, apart from their productive role, is summed up in theconcept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).The aim of this study is to question the implications of this responsibility forRTE. The company released for2013its CSR report, which describes and quantify thecompany’s performance on several issues, but this report does not provide a clear viewof the key CSR issues faced by RTE. Hence, the identification of these key CSR issueswill constitute the research question of this study, which will also try to identify thedetermining factors of this hierarchy of issues.To perform this analysis, the following methodology has been implemented: firstdescribe the CSR profile of the company to provide a broad vision of its CSR issues.Then, analyze these issues to identify the most relevant ones for RTE: this is thepurpose of the materiality analysis performed in the second part. Finally, a comparativeanalysis with China will underline the factors that affect the definition of an electricitytransmission grid’s CSR.This study shows that RTE has a broad corporate social responsibility,dominated by three key dimensions: Engaging in stakeholders’ dialogue, participatingto the energy transition and finally to monitor the negative externalities of its activities.RTE will use these data to optimize its next CSR report. Moreover, the comparison withState Grid Corporation China (SGCC) underlines the importance of the economic,social and cultural context in the definition of an electricity transmission grid operator’sCSR. It also underlines the evolutive dimension of CSR, and shows that the challengesfaced by RTE today will become central for SGCC in the future.