The Association of Electricity Producers (AEP) was a
trade association for the
United Kingdom electricity market. It had approximately 90 members, including electricity generation companies and those offering support services.
History
The Association was founded in 1987 as the Association of Independent Electricity Producers, with the initial remit of
lobbying the UK government's
Department of Energy to remove restrictions on private companies operating within the electricity industry. The idea for the AIEP came from David Andrews who was an engineer promoting small scale
Combined Heat and Power
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...
- mini- CHP who was frustrated by the blatant attempts of the then
CEGB to manipulate the market against mini-CHP. He called the first meeting held at Orchard Partners in London, then also active in promoting CHP, with John Macadam of Orchard Partners and Martin Alder then of
Wessex Water and Trevor Dooley of
Electrical Review
Electricity is the set of physical 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 electromagnetism, as described by ...
who provided valuable initial publicity. Early on Andrews suggested that a contact, David Porter, who had a small desk top publishing business provide a newsletter - Porter went on to become the Director and Chief Executive.
Electricity privatisation
This early goal, against the CEGB, was achieved with the passing of the Electricity Act in 1989, and the subsequent full
privatisation
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
of the industry (with the exception of
nuclear power).
In 1995, recognising that little remained from which the organisation could be "independent", it changed its name to the Association of Electricity Producers. In 1999 it moved to its current offices in London. It used to be based further towards Pall Mall on Waterloo Place.
Structure
The Association employed 12 staff. Its President was Sir
Michael Spicer former MP, and David Porter was its Chief Executive from 1991.
The UK electricity industry is worth £54 million, and directly employs 87,000 people.
Merger
In April 2012, the Association of Electricity Producers merged with the Energy Retail Association and the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy to become Energy UK.
New energy trade body kicks off
2 April 2012
References
External links
Energy UK
Video clips
CEO David Porter talks about new nuclear power stations on CNBC in November 2008
{{Energy in the United Kingdom, sources
Trade associations based in the United Kingdom
Electric power in the United Kingdom
Electric power industry organizations
Organizations established in 1987
1987 establishments in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in the City of Westminster