Management report Highlights of 2014 Company brochure Our activities in brief About GESA › Our history Our history More than 120 years after its creation, our company is opening a new chapter ... The origins of GESA go back to the end of the 19th century. It was indeed during the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889 that the idea was born of providing the city of Bulle with electric public lighting. This futuristic vision led in 1893 to the founding of the "Société Électrique de Bulle". The following decades were marked by a relentless increase in demand for this new energy resource. Having considerably increased its services, the company was bought in 1947 by the Municipality of Bulle, which already owns 50% of the shareholding, and took the name of "Service Electrique de la ville de Bulle". In 1963, the company was renamed "Services Industriels de la ville de Bulle", following the will of the local authorities to bring together in a single dicastery the services of electricity and water distribution. This period was marked by the completion of major constructions (dams and reservoirs), as well as by the emergence of new technologies, including the current use of underground cabling, the multimedia network, satellite broadcasting and optical fiber. At the end of the 90s the question arose of the adaptation of the Industrial Services of the city of Bulle to the prospect of the opening of European markets. The municipal council, anxious to ensure the sustainability of the company, decided to grant it the status of a public limited company, under the name of Gruyère Energie SA, thus giving it the freedom of maneuver essential to its development. In the early 2000s, Gruyère Energie gave concrete form to its commitment to sustainable development with the launch of work on one of the largest district wood heating networks in French-speaking Switzerland. In May 2004, the first customers were connected to a unique system in the region in terms of heating and domestic hot water: the thermo-network. In 2014, Gruyère Energie SA became GESA. This new name is completed by a particle composed of a leaf and a seed symbolizing new ideas and a strong commitment in terms of sustainable development. SITEMAP MEDIA / PRESS EMPLOYMENT Gruyère Energie SA Rue de l'Etang 20, CP 76, 1630 Bulle 1 | T 026 919 23 23 | F 026 919 23 25 © 2014 Gruyère Energie - created by iomedia