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 generate electricity for the board, to provide main transmission lines to interconnect selected stations and electricity undertakers, and to standardise generating frequency.
History
In 1925
Lord Weir chaired a committee that proposed the creation of the Central Electricity Board to link the UK’s most efficient power stations with consumers via a ‘national gridiron’. At that time, the industry consisted of more than 600 electricity supply companies and local authority undertakings, and different areas operated at different
voltage
Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to ...
s and
frequencies (including
DC in some places). The board's first chairman was
Andrew Duncan.
The CEB established the UK's first synchronised AC grid, running at 132
kilovolts and 50
Hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that o ...
, which by 1933 was a collection of local grids, with emergency interlinks, covering most of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. This started operating as a national system, the
National Grid, in 1938.
After completion of the National Grid the role of the CEB changed from planning and construction to operating and managing the regional grid systems.
The CEB established laboratories at Croydon and Waddon to undertake research on high voltage transmission problems.
The CEB co-existed with the
Electricity Commissioners, an industry regulator responsible to the
Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
.
The CEB ceased to exist when the electricity industry was nationalised 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 ...
and taken over by the
British Electricity Authority.
Key people
Chairmen
There were four chairmen of the Central Electricity Board between 1927 and 1948:
*
Sir Andrew Duncan (1884–1952), Chairman 1927–35.
* Sir Archibald Page (1875–1949), Chairman 1935–44.
* Harold Hobson, Chairman 1944–46.
* Sir Johnstone Wright (1883–1953), Chairman 1947–48.
The board
Upon its establishment in 1927 the Board comprised a full-time chairman and seven part-time members, all appointed by the Minister of Transport.
[Leslie Hannah pp. 103-08, 122-4] The inaugural part-time members were:
*
Sir James Lithgow
Sir James Lithgow, 1st Baronet, (27 January 1883 – 23 February 1952) was a Scottish industrialist who played a major role in restructuring the British shipbuilding and steelmaking industries in the 1930s in addition to playing an important rol ...
(1883–1952), businessman.
* Sir Duncan Watson, former Chairman of the ''
London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority
The London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority was a United Kingdom statutory body established in 1925 with the responsibility to "provide or secure the provision of a cheap and abundant supply of electricity” within the County of Lond ...
''.
* Sir James Lyne Devonshire (1863–1946), Vice-President of Tramways, Light Railways and Transport Association.
* William Walker, vice chair of Manchester Corporation Electricity Committee.
* Walter Kennedy Whigham (1878–1948), Director of the Bank of England.
*
Vernon Willey
Francis Vernon Willey, 2nd Baron Barnby, CMG, CBE, MVO, TD (29 September 1884 – 30 April 1982) was an English aristocrat, soldier and politician.
He was the son of Francis Willey, 1st Baron Barnby and was educated at Eton and Magdalen Col ...
(1884–1982) (Lord Barnby).
* Frank Hodges, labour representative, Secretary to the International Miners’ Federation.
Other key CEB staff
Under the board were a General Manager, Secretary, Chief Engineer, Commercial Manager and support sections.
Some key people were:
* Sir John Brooke, Secretary to the Board; an Electricity Commissioner from 1929.
* Sir Archibald Page (1875–1945), Chief Engineer and General Manager; CEB Chairman from 1935–44; a former Electricity Commissioner.
* Harold Hobson, Supply Engineer; Commercial Manager 1932–35; General Manager from 1935; CEB Chairman 1944–46.
* Sir Johnstone Wright (1883–1953), Deputy Chief Engineer; Chief Engineer 1933–44; General Manager 1944–47; CEB Chairman 1947–8.
* David Coates, Chief accountant, Finance Officer.
* Richard Hodding Fox, Board solicitor, Secretary to the Board from 1929.
* J.W. Beauchamp, Commercial Manager 1935–37.
* Edgar R. Wilkinson, Commercial Manager from 1937.
* Sir
Ralph Lewis Wedgwood (1874–1956), Board Member from 1930.
* R.P. Sloan, Board Member from 1936.
* Sir Andrew Watson, Board Member from 1939.
*
Lord Barnby (1884-1982), Board Member from 1940.
Earley power station
In 1940 the
Electricity Commissioners in agreement with the Central Electricity Board proposed a programme of new generating capacity to mitigate war risks and the growth in demand associated with the development of munitions factories.
The programme entailed the installation of 180 MW of plant in four existing stations and two new stations one at Earley east of Reading () and the other at Castle Meads, Gloucester.
Earley was the only power station owned by the CEB; it was operated by
Edmundsons Electricity Corporation
The Edmundsons Electricity Corporation Limited was an electricity holding company that controlled and owned over 60 electricity undertakings throughout England and Wales. It was established in 1897 and was dissolved, despite its objections, as a c ...
until nationalisation in 1948.
The supply from Earley commenced on 8 December 1942, only 22 months after the start of construction.
The plant initially comprised a Parsons 40 MW steam
turbo-alternator fed from three boilers with a total steam capacity of 600,000 lb/hr at 635 psi at 850 °F (75.6 kg/s, 43.8 bar at 454 °C).
The boilers were fed with pulverised coal. The plant was extended in 1944–45 with a second 40 MW set and boilers with a capacity of 400,000 lb/hr (50.4 kg/s).
A third 40 MW set with 400,000 lb/hr boilers was installed in 1945–47. In its final configuration there were seven International Combustion boilers each with a capacity of 200,000 lb/hr (25.2 kg/s).
Generation was at 33 kV and transmission at 33 kV and 132 kV. Cooling water was abstracted from the river.
Upon
nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948 the ownership of Earley power station was vested in the
British Electricity Authority, and subsequently 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 ...
and 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 Janua ...
(CEGB).
Earley was also the site of a pioneering main-service gas turbine, this was a 56 MW machine driven by four
Rolls-Royce Avon
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ...
jet engines and was commissioned in 1965. A second diesel-fired gas turbine was installed later.
The operating parameters and electricity output of Earley power station is given in the following table.
[Electricity Commission, ''Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946''. London: HMSO, 1947.]
The steam plant and generators were decommissioned in the 1970s. The gas-turbine plant and the whole station were decommissioned in 1982, the two chimneys demolished in 1982.
Locations
The CEB headquarters was at Trafalgar Buildings, 1 Charing Cross, London SW1. There was also an establishment at
Horsley Towers
Horsley Towers, East Horsley, Surrey, England is a country house dating from the 19th century. The house was designed by Charles Barry for the banker William Currie. The East Horsley estate was later sold to William King-Noel, 1st Earl of Lovelac ...
, East Horsley, Surrey.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
1926 establishments in the United Kingdom
1947 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Electric power in 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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...