The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, including the former regions of
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
,
Lothian
Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...
,
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
,
Central
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Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
,
Borders
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Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film
* ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...
and
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...
and a few towns in northern
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 ...
. It operated from 1955 to 1991.
History
As established 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 ...
there were two
British Electricity Authority divisions responsible for the generation of electricity in Scotland based in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
There were also two area boards for distribution of electricity responsible to the British Electricity Authority and to the
Minister of Fuel and Power. It was thought by the industry and government
that a single board for the South of Scotland would be better placed to cover the whole area and would provide administrative advantages such as simplification. The South of Scotland would then be in line with the North of Scotland which was covered by 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 ...
for both the generation and distribution of electricity. The new arrangement would provide a more efficient service and better match Scotland's needs.
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 ...
transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland the responsibility for electricity matters in Scotland and established the South of Scotland Electricity Board, a new public authority for the generation and distribution of electricity in the South of Scotland.
Scotland was given control of its own electricity undertakings, and the responsibility for adequate performance became the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
On 1 April 1955, South West Scotland Electricity Board and South East Scotland Electricity Board were merged into the South of Scotland Electricity Board.
The board operated conventional coal-fired steam stations, hydro-electric stations and nuclear power stations.
The board was dissolved in 1991 as a consequence of the
Electricity Act 1989
The Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29) provided for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Great Britain, by replacing the Central Electricity Generating Board in England and Wales and by restructuring the South of Scotland Electricit ...
which privatised the British electricity industry.
Constitution
The 1954 Act specified the management board was to comprise a chairman and not less than four and not more than eight members. All appointments to the board were to be made by the
Secretary of State for Scotland.
The Board's headquarters were at Sauchiehall Street and Inverlair Avenue Glasgow.
Chairmen
South East Scotland Electricity Board
* 1948–1955: Sir
Robert Norman Duke, KBE, CB, DSO, MC
South West Scotland Electricity Board
* 1948–1955: Sir
John Sydney Pickles
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
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Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, MIEE
South of Scotland Electricity Board
* 1955–1962: Sir
John Sydney Pickles
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, MIEE
* 1962–1967: Sir
Norman Randall Elliott, CBE
* 1967–1973:
Charles Lewis Cuthbert Allen
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
, FICE, FIEE
* 1974–1977: Sir
Francis Leonard Tombs, FREng (later Baron Tombs)
* 1977–1982:
Donald Roy Berridge
Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...
, CBE
* 1982–1991: Sir
Donald John Miller
Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...
Electricity generation
Electricity generated by the Board was from coal-fired steam power stations, hydro-electric stations, and from 1964 from nuclear power stations.
Steam power stations
Outline details of the Steam power stations of the South of Scotland Electricity Board in 1958 are as follows:
The Board commissioned large coal-fired stations such as the 760 MW
Kincardine power station
Kincardine power station was a 760 MW coal-fired power station on the shores of the upper Firth of Forth by Kincardine on Forth, Fife, Scotland.
History
The station began construction in 1952 and started generating electricity in 1958. At the ...
(1958), the 1200 MW
Inverkip
Inverkip (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Chip'') is a village and parish in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, southwest of Greenock and north of Largs on the A78 trunk road. Th ...
(1967), the 1200 MW
Cockenzie power station
Cockenzie power station was a coal-fired power station in East Lothian, Scotland. It was situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, near the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton, east of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. The station dom ...
(1967), and the 2400 MW
Longannet power station
Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, ...
(1970).
Hydro-electric power stations
Outline details of the Hydro-electric power stations of the South of Scotland Electricity Board in 1958 are as follows:
Nuclear power stations
The South of Scotland Electricity Board commissioned three nuclear power stations.
Transmission
The supply of electricity was by high voltage cables. In 1958 there were 170 miles of transmission line operating at 275 kV and 841 miles at 132 kV.
They connected 20 power stations and 44 transforming stations. There were connections to the North of Scotland grid system and to England via the 275 kV Clyde’s Mill to Carlisle line.
By April 1989 there were 526 km of 400 kV lines; 1,565 km of 275 kV lines; 1,642 km of 132 kV lines; and 80,256 km of less than 132 kV lines.
Distribution areas
Electricity supply to customers was through eight Distribution Areas. The supply and other key data for 1956 were as follows:
Operating data 1949 to 1989
Key operating data for the South of Scotland Electricity Board is summarised in the table.
The amount of electricity supplied by the board, in GWh, is shown on the graph.
Dissolution
As a consequence of the
Electricity Act 1989
The Electricity Act 1989 (c. 29) provided for the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Great Britain, by replacing the Central Electricity Generating Board in England and Wales and by restructuring the South of Scotland Electricit ...
, which privatised the British electricity industry, the nuclear assets of the South of Scotland Electricity Board were transferred to Scottish Nuclear.
In January 1990 a reactor at the Hunterston A Magnox Power Station was shut down. The second reactor was shut down on 31 March 1990, the day before the nuclear generation assets (Hunterston A, Hunterston B and Torness Power Stations) were vested with
Scottish Nuclear
Scottish Nuclear was formed as a precursor to the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Scotland on 1 April 1990. A purpose-built headquarters was built in 1992 in the new town of East Kilbride.
It consisted of the nuclear assets o ...
.
The remainder of the assets were privatised as
Scottish Power
Scottish Power is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola.
ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central and Southern Scotland, Merseyside, Nor ...
in 1991 and the South of Scotland Electricity Board was dissolved.
See also
*
Energy policy of the United Kingdom
*
Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
Energy in the United Kingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total World energy supply and consumption, energy consumption in the United Kingdom was 142.0millionTonne of oil equivalent, tonnes of oil equivalent (1,651TWh) in 2019. In 20 ...
*
Companies merged into South East Scotland Electricity Board
*
Companies merged into South West Scotland Electricity Board
*
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 ...
References
Further reading
* Leslie Hannah, ''Engineers, Managers and Politicians: The First Fifteen Years of Nationalised Electricity Supply in Britain'' (London and Basingstoke: Macmillan for The Electricity Council, 1982).
External links
THE FRASERS' RETURN (1963)(archive film sponsored by the South of Scotland Electricity Board - from the National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE)
Utilities of the United Kingdom
Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom
Defunct electric power companies of the United Kingdom
Defunct companies of Scotland
Energy in Scotland
Electric power in Scotland
Energy companies established in 1955
Energy companies disestablished in 1991
1955 establishments in Scotland
1991 disestablishments in Scotland
British companies established in 1955
British companies disestablished in 1991
Electric power companies of Scotland
{{Scotland-company-stub