The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established as the central British electricity authority in 1948 under the

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

's electricity supply industry enacted by the

Electricity Act 1947 The Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54.) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or bought into state control, the electricity supply industry in Great Britain. It established a central authority called t ...

. The BEA was responsible for the generation, transmission and sale of electricity to area electricity boards, and the development and maintenance of an efficient, coordinated and economical system of electricity supply.

History

The authority took over the operations of over 600 small public supply power companies,

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

authority electricity departments and the

Central Electricity Board The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established by the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926. It had the duty to supply electricity to authorised electricity undertakers, to determine which power stations would be 'selected' stations ...

to form the BEA, which comprised a central authority and 14 area boards. Its scope did not include control of the

North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (1943–1990) was founded to design, construct and manage hydroelectricity projects in the Highlands of Scotland. It is regarded as one of the major achievements of Scottish politician Thomas Johnston, w ...

, which had been founded in 1943 and remained independent of the BEA. The appointment of chairmen and members of the BEA and the area boards were made in August 1947 and the BEA was formally established on 15 August 1947. The 14 area boards were formally established on 1 January 1948, and Vesting Day, when the BEA and area boards became responsible for electricity supply, was on 1 April 1948. The London headquarters were initially at British Electricity House, Great Portland Street, W1, then British Electricity House, Trafalgar Buildings, Strand, SW1, and British Electricity House, Winsley Street, W1.

Board structure

The British Electricity Authority was established by Section 2 of the ''Electricity Act 1947''. It comprised a chairman and four to six other members appointed by the Minister of Fuel and Power; four members, also appointed by the minister, who were chairmen of an area electricity board (in rotation); and one other member who was chairman of the

Management board members

The first appointments to the board were: * Lord Citrine, former member of the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

, Chairman * Sir

Henry Self Sir Albert Henry Self (18 January 1890 – 15 January 1975) was an English civil servant. Prior to and during the Second World War he was responsible for arranging the purchase of American aircraft to meet the requirements of the Royal Air Force. ...

, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Deputy Chairman (Administration) * Sir John Hacking, chief engineer of the

, Deputy Chairman (Operations) *

Ernest Bussey Ernest William Bussey (9 December 1891 – 16 July 1958) was a British trade union leader. Bussey grew up in West Ham and qualified as an electrical engineer. He worked for the West Ham Corporation, then for London County Council. He also ...

, general secretary of the Electrical Trades Union, Member for Labour Relations and Welfare * Dame

Caroline Haslett Dame Caroline Harriet Haslett DBE, JP (17 August 1895 – 4 January 1957) was an English electrical engineer, electricity industry administrator and champion of women's rights. She was the first secretary of the Women's Engineering Society a ...

, director of the Electrical Association for Women, member * Sir William Walker, former

Lord Mayor of Manchester This is a list of the Lord Mayors of the City of Manchester in the North West of England. Not to be confused with the Directly elected Greater Manchester Mayor. The Current and 124th Lord Mayor is Cllr Donna Ludford, Labour who has served Si ...

, member * Tom Johnston,

, member * Josiah Eccles,

Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board SP Manweb is the regional electricity distribution network operator (DNO) for Merseyside, North Wales and parts of Cheshire. It is now part of SP Energy Networks, itself a subsidiary of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola. Nationalised in ...

, member * W. Lewis, Midland Electricity Board, Member * J. S. Pickles,

South West Scotland Electricity Board The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few ...

, member * Henry John Randall,

London Electricity Board The London Electricity Board was the public sector utility company responsible for the supply and distribution of electricity to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in London prior to 1990. It also sold and made available for hire and ...

, member Subsequent appointments were, by rotation, the chairman of the South Eastern (Norman R. Elliott), East Midlands (C. R. King), South Wales (L. Howes) and South East Scotland Electricity Board (Sir Norman Duke) were appointed members of the BEA from 1 January 1950. Their terms expired on 31 December 1951 and were succeeded by the appointment of C. T. Melling (Eastern Electricity Board), H. H. Mullens (North Eastern), H. Nimmo (Southern), and S. F. Steward (South Western). Sir John Hacking retired in 1953 and his place on the board was taken by Josiah Eccles as deputy chairman with effect from January 1954. Appointments by rotation with effect from 1 January 1954 were H. J. Randall (London), W. S. Lewis (Midlands), D. Bellamy (Yorkshire), and Sir John Hallsworth (North Western).

Headquarters organisation

The headquarters organisation had seven main departments. The Chief Contracts Officer (F. W. Smith) was responsible to both of the deputy chairmen. A board member (E. W. Bussey) was responsible for Labour Relations and Welfare. Under the Deputy Chairman for Administration (Sir Henry Self) were: * The Secretary (H. F. Carpenter) * Commercial Manager (E. R. Wilkinson) * Chief Accountant (D. W. Coates) * Chief legal adviser (R. A. Finn) Under the Deputy Chairman for Operations (Sir John Hacking) was: * Chief Engineer (V. A. Pask), who had four deputy chief engineers ** Deputy Chief Engineer Generation had two engineering teams: *** Generation Design Engineer *** Generation Operations Engineer ** Deputy Chief Engineer Transmission had three engineering teams: *** Transmission Design Engineer *** Transmission Construction Engineer *** System Operation Engineer, responsible for national control ** Deputy Chief Engineer Generating Station Construction had four engineering teams: *** Coordination Engineer *** Production Inspection and Test Engineer *** Specifications and Contracts *** HQ Stations Supervising Engineer ** Deputy Chief Engineer Research had two engineering teams: *** Director of Laboratories *** Engineer-in-Charge Electro-Technical Research

Area boards

Area electricity boards were established by Section 3 of the Electricity Act 1947. They were responsible for the distribution of electricity and sales to customers. They comprised a chairman and five to seven other members appointed by the Minister of Fuel and Power after consultation with the central authority; and one member holding the office of chairman of the consultative council. The new area boards were: #

East Midlands Electricity Board The East Midlands Electricity Board (EMEB) was formed in 1947 as one of the United Kingdom's twelve area electricity boards specified under the Electricity Act 1947. In 1990 it was floated on the stock market as East Midlands Electricity plc, w ...

(EMEB) #

Eastern Electricity Board Eastern Electricity plc was an electricity supply and distribution utility serving eastern England, including East Anglia and part of Greater London. It was renamed ''Eastern Group'' under which name it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and ...

(EEB) #

(LEB) #

(MANWEB) #

Midlands Electricity Board The Midlands Electricity Board was the public sector utility company responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator (the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958) and its distribution and sale of electricity t ...

(MEB) #

North Eastern Electricity Board North Eastern Electricity Board was an electricity distribution utility in England, serving the North East of England. History Formed as the North Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB) in 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity indust ...

(NEEB) # North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB) #

South East Scotland Electricity Board The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few t ...

# South Eastern Electricity Board (SEEBOARD) #

South Wales Electricity Board SWALEC was an electricity supply and distribution company in South Wales, established in 1989 following the de-regulation of the electricity supply industry in the United Kingdom. The business has seen several changes of ownership from 1996, and ...

(SWALEC) #

South Western Electricity Board SWEB Energy, formerly South Western Electricity Board (SWEB) was a British state-owned regional electricity company operating in South West England which was privatised by the Thatcher government. Although sold many times, the 'SWEB' brand n ...

(SWEB) #

Southern Electricity Board Southern Electric plc was a public limited energy company in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998, when it merged with Scottish Hydro-Electric plc to form Scottish and Southern Energy plc (now SSE plc). The company had its origins in the so ...

(SEB) #

Yorkshire Electricity Board Yorkshire Electricity was an electricity distribution utility in England, serving much of Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. History Formed as the Yorkshire Electricity Board in 1948 as part of the nationalisat ...

(YEB)

Consultative councils

Section 7 of the Electricity Act 1947 established a consultative council for each of the area electricity boards. These councils had the duty of considering matters affecting the distribution of electricity in the area, including tariffs and the provision of new or improved services, following representations by consumers or other persons requiring supplies; they could also consider any matter referred to them by the area board. They were to notify their conclusions to the board.''Electricity Act 1947'' Section 7 The councils consisted of between twenty and thirty persons appointed by the minister. Not less than half nor more than three-fifths were appointed from a panel of members of local authorities. The remainder represented agriculture, commerce, industry, labour and the general interests of consumers of electricity in the area. The chairman of each consultative council was a member of the area electricity board.

Operations

Electricity generation, supply and sales

The electricity generated, supplied and sold, in GWh, over the establishment of the BEA was as follows:

Financial

A summary of the BEA's financial results is as follows:

Employees

There were a total of 169,000 employees in the electricity supply industry 1952, comprising:

Publications

* ''Report and statement of accounts - British Electricity Authority'', London, HMSO, 1949-55. * British Electricity Authority, ''Electricity supply, Directory of B.E.A., boards and officials''.

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British Electricity Authority, London, 1948. * Glyn Bowen-Jones and British Electricity Authority'', Souvenir of the opening of Kingston Power Station by His Majesty the King accompanied by Her Majesty the Queen, on the 27th day of October, 1948'', London, 1948. * British Electricity Authority, ''National negotiations in industry: Address'', British Electricity Authority, London, 1949. * British Electricity Authority, ''British electricity: its organisation under public ownership'', London, 1950. * ''British Electricity Authority Publications Vols. 1, 2 and 3'', 1950. Volume 3 comprises Organisation Charts, ‘Two Years’ Work’ and ‘Summer Schools Oxford’. * British Electricity Authority, ''British electricity conference: held at the Royal Hall, Harrogate, 19th June, 1950'', London, British Electricity Authority, 1950. * British Electricity Authority, ''Beam: Magazine of the B.E.A., Midlands Division Branch'', London, 1954. * British Electricity Authority, ''Power and prosperity'', British Electricity Authority, 1954.

Successors

As a result of the

Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1954 Electricity is the set of physics, physical Phenomenon, phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagne ...

, the British Electricity Authority was replaced on 1 April 1955 by the

Central Electricity Authority The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was a body that managed and operated the electricity supply industry in England and Wales between 1 April 1955 and 31 December 1957. The CEA replaced the earlier British Electricity Authority (BEA) as a r ...

(CEA) for England and Wales. At the same time, the two South of Scotland Area Boards and the associated electricity generation and distribution plant were merged into the

South of Scotland Electricity Board The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few t ...

(SSEB) to form an integrated electricity board responsible for generation, distribution and electricity supply in southern and central Scotland. Soon afterwards, the Electricity Act 1957 dissolved the Central Electricity Authority, which it replaced with the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

(CEGB) and the

Electricity Council The Electricity Council was a governmental body set up in 1958 to oversee the electricity supply industry in England and Wales. The council was established on 1 January 1958 to assume the coordinating and policy-making functions of the Central El ...

.Competition Commission (UK), Report on Electricity Supply Industry, 198
(PDF)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* , on nationalization 1945-50, pp 132-82 * Hannah, Leslie (1979). ''Electricity before Nationalisation: A Study of the Development of the Electricity Supply Industry in Britain to 1948''. London & Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press Ltd. . * Hannah, Leslie (1982). ''Engineers, Managers, and Politicians: The First Fifteen years of Nationalised Electricity in Britain''. London & Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press Ltd. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. (Johns Hopkins UP: )

External links

UK Competition Commission Report on South of Scotland Electricity Board, 1986
{{Area Electricity Board Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Electric power in the United Kingdom 1948 establishments in the United Kingdom