Newcastle and District Electric Lighting Company Plaque

The Newcastle and District Electric Lighting Company (abbreviated to DISCo) was a pre-nationalisation, private

electricity supply Mains electricity or utility power, power grid, domestic power, and wall power, or in some parts of Canada as hydro, is a general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power that is delivered to h ...

company, based in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

in North East England. The company was set up in 1889 by

Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...

. The company built a number of small

coal-fired power stations A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts capacity. They generate about a th ...

in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne, initially to supply homes and streets with electric lighting. They also provided power for an electrified tram line in the western part of the city. DISCo was the first electric supply company in the world to generate electricity using

turbo generator A turbo generator is an electric generator connected to the shaft of a steam turbine or gas turbine for the generation of electric power. Large steam-powered turbo generators provide the majority of the world's electricity and are also use ...

s, thanks to Parsons' invention of the steam turbine. The company existed until the nationalisation of the UK's electrical supply industry in 1948.

History

Following his invention of the steam turbine in 1884,

was anxious to move into electricity supply, and so in 1889 he founded up the Newcastle and District Electric Electric Lighting Company. Their distribution area was quickly decided; they were to supply the area of the city to the west of Grainger Street, while the

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company The North Eastern Electric Supply Company (commonly abbreviated to NESCo) was responsible for the supply of electricity to a large amount of North East England, prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity industry with the Electricity ...

(NESCo), who had also been formed in 1889, were to supply the eastern side of the city. DISCo's distribution area was expanded west to

Newburn Newburn is a semi rural parish, former electoral ward and former urban district in western Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated ...

in 1902, and north to Benwell and Fenham in 1904. They were unable to extend this any further after losing a number of Parliamentary battles with NESCo in the early 1900s. The first power station the company constructed was at Forth Banks in the city centre in 1890. This was the first power station in the world to generate electricity commercially using steam turbine driven generators. A further power station was constructed in close proximity to the Forth Banks station in 1902, on The Close. Another two stations were built by the company at

Lemington Lemington is an area and electoral ward of Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England. History Lemington has a strong industrial history. It is famous for its brick glassworks cone, built in 1787. The River Tyne used to pass very close to Lem ...

, in 1903, and at

, in 1908. All of the stations built by the company used steam turbines built by Parson's turbine building company C. A. Parsons and Company. Charles Parsons was initially held the title as the company's

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, until 1902 when he stepped down, but remained with the company as a director, before finally retiring in 1909. The majority of the North East's electric supply companies merged with NESCo in 1932 to form the North Eastern Electric Supply Company (again known as NESCo). However, DISCo was one of only three electric supply companies in the region to not merge into NESCo. DISCo ceased to exist in 1948, becoming part of the

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), with the nationalisation of the UK's electrical supply industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcastle And District Electric Lighting Company Defunct electric power companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne Non-renewable resource companies established in 1889 Energy companies disestablished in 1948 British companies established in 1889 1948 disestablishments in England Privately held companies of the United Kingdom 1889 establishments in England British companies disestablished in 1948