The Study Committees (SC) and the Technical Committee (TC) are the main players in the technical activities of CIGRE.

The 16 SCs, each one covering a specific technical field of the Power industry, are permanent structures of CIGRE. They are governed by precise operative rules (Terms of Reference, nature of the publications..) and they have two basic responsibilities:
      -       They carry out studies on topical issues of their domain. Results are published and made available to CIGRE members, as well as to non members,
      -            They play a leading part in the Sessions and Symposia organized by CIGRE: definition of the topics, selection of the papers, running of the meetings. They also organize their own events: Colloquia, Tutorials, Workshops.

The activities of the SCs are coordinated by the TC, lead by the TC Chairman, who represents the Administrative Council of CIGRE: it discusses the orientation of their work, validates their program and monitors their operation.

The SCs act as a Managing Board, made of representatives of the National Committees. They select the studies to be started, specify their contents (TORs), monitor the progress of the work and approve the publications.
To carry out its work, a SC relies on 2 types of Working Bodies:
- Advisory Groups (AG), which advise the Chairman of the SC in the choice of the activities,
- Working Groups (WG), which perform the studies, in accordance with the TORs which have been approved by the TC Chairman. Presently there are almost 200 active WGs (see list) in CIGRE, bringing together some 2000 International Experts.