The electrical power industry in the United Kingdom was nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947, when over six hundred electric power companies were merged into twelve area boards.

List of companies

Companies merged into East Midlands Electricity Board (EMEB)

Further information: East Midlands Electricity

The board's area was defined as: Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into Eastern Electricity Board (EEB)

Further information: Eastern Electricity

The board's area was defined as: Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, the Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Middlesex, Oxfordshire and the Soke of Peterborough.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

The Northmet Power and Light building in Wood Green, north London

Companies merged into London Electricity Board (LEB)

Further information: London Electricity Board

The board's area was defined as: The administrative County of London and parts of Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.

Local authority undertakings

Joint electricity authority

Created under the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1919

Private companies

Companies merged into Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board (MANWEB)

Further information: SP Manweb

The board's area was defined as: Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire and parts of Cardiganshire, Cheshire, Lancashire (including Liverpool) and Shropshire.

Local authority undertakings

Joint electricity authority

Created under the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1919

Private companies

Companies merged into Midlands Electricity Board (MEB)

Further information: Midlands Electricity

The board's area was defined as: Herefordshire, Worcestershire and parts of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire (including Birmingham).

Local authority undertakings

Joint electricity authorities

Created under the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1919

Private companies

Companies merged into North Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB)

Further information: North Eastern Electricity Board

The board's area was defined as: Durham, Northumberland, the North Riding of Yorkshire and parts of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire (including York).

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Carliol House, former headquarters of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company

Companies merged into North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB)

Further information: NORWEB

The board's area was defined as: Cumberland, Westmorland and parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire (including Manchester) and of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into South East Scotland Electricity Board

Further information: South of Scotland Electricity Board

The board's area was defined as: Berwickshire, Clackmannanshire, Fife, Lothians (East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian), Peebles, Selkirkshire, and parts of Dunbartonshire, Roxburghshire and Stirlingshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into South Eastern Electricity Board (SEEBOARD)

Further information: SEEBOARD

The board's area was defined as: Parts of Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex.

Local authority undertakings

Joint electricity authority

Created under the provisions of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1919

Private companies

Companies merged into South Wales Electricity Board (SWALEB)

Further information: SWALEC

The board's area was defined as: Brecknockshire, Carmarthenshire, Glamorganshire, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire and part of Cardiganshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into South West Scotland Electricity Board

Further information: South West Scotland Electricity Board

The board's area was defined as: Ayrshire, Dumfries-shire, Glasgow, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Wigtownshire and parts of Dunbartonshire, Roxburghshire and Stirlingshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into South Western Electricity Board (SWEB)

Further information: SWEB Energy

The board's area was defined as: Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Devonshire and parts of Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire (including Bristol) and Somersetshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into Southern Electricity Board (SEB)

Further information: Southern Electric

The board's area was defined as: Berkshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and parts of Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Somersetshire, Surrey and Sussex.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Companies merged into Yorkshire Electricity Board (YEB)

Further information: Yorkshire Electricity

The board's area was defined as: Parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire.

Local authority undertakings

Private companies

Other companies

The following companies had interests in multiple and non-contiguous locations.


Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Not listed in the Electricity (Allocation of Undertakings to Area Boards) Order 1948, presumably had ceased before this date.
  2. ^ The Hampstead vestry (predecessor to the borough council) established an electricity supply business in 1894, and this company may have been acquired by them, or never have become active.
  3. ^ Only the electricity supply business was transferred, the SHMD board continued to operate public transport services.
  4. ^ Musselburgh and District's trams were taken over by Edinburgh Corporation in 1928, although the company's name was not changed to reflect this.
  5. ^ Llanelly and District's trolleybus operation was sold to British Electric Traction in 1952.
  6. ^ a b Gas operations passed to North Thames Gas Board
  7. ^ a b c d Gas operations passed to Southern Gas Board

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Parsons, R. H. (1939). The Early Days of the Power Station Industry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 71–120.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i London County Council (1934). London Statistics 1932-33 (Vol.37). London: London County Council. pp. 331–37.
  3. ^ Parsons, R.H. (1939). The Early Days of the Power Station Industry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 56–65.
  4. ^ "County of London Electric Lighting Co – Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  5. ^ a b c d "Electricity Act 1947". The Times. 10 March 1948. p. 23.
  6. ^ "British Power & Light Corporation(1929) Limited". The Times. 13 May 1929. p. 26.
  7. ^ "Grace's guide to British Industrial History Christy Brothers". Grace's guide. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Electrical Finance and Securities Company Limited". The Times. 9 May 1927. p. 23.
  9. ^ "Midland Counties Electric Supply Company". The Times. 29 November 1921. p. 16.

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