Traditional Electricity Systems in Spain: Fensa (1927-1991)

Because the literature of European economic history has paid little attention to traditional electricity systems, the interest in studying Fensa lies in analysing the different types of companies, which helped to shape the development of the Spanish electricity sector prior to its present oligopolistic structure. This case provides insight into two issues. First, we learn about the behaviour of the second-generation companies (those that based their production on a controlled hydropower regime), which, despite their limited size, made their commercial specialisation (supplying the dynamic industrial market of Guipúzcoa) their main comparative advantage. Second, we analyse the behaviour of those companies which at this time, as distribution companies and/or subsidiaries of the large Spanish companies (Iberduero), were an instrument of the policy of integrating regional markets.