TitleArchive material from the Electricity Council and its predecessor and related organisations
ReferenceYA1989.338
CreatorThe Electricity Council In 1957, the government reorganised the electricity supply industry. The Electricity Act of that year replaced the Central Electricity Authority with two new statutory bodies: the Electricity Council and the Central Electricity Generating Board. The government's aim was to decentralise the industry.
The Electricity Council brought together representatives of the Central Electricity Generating Board, the Area Boards and its own officers to formulate the general policy of the supply industry in England and Wales. The Council reported to the Secretary of State for Energy. Although the Electricity Council was the central umbrella authority of the industry, it did not have statutory powers.
The Council was formally wound up by The Electricity Council (Dissolution) Order 2001.
Electricity Commissioners During the First World War, the demand for industrial electricity increased. This tested the capacity of existing suppliers and exposed their lack of co-ordination. In 1919, the government appointed Electricity Commissioners to encourage undertakings to adopt common technical standards and co-ordinate production on a regional basis. From the late 1920s, the Commission worked with the Central Electricity Board to develop the National Grid (see below). The Commission was limited because it had no compulsory powers, but its Annual Returns and Returns of Engineering and Finance provide detailed information about the extent and structure of the industry.
Central Electricity Board The first effective co-ordination of the electricity supply industry came in 1926 with the Electricity (Supply) Act, by which the government established the Central Electricity Board. The Board was a public corporation and built and ran the National Grid of main transmission lines. Electricity generated at selected power stations could be supplied wholesale over these transmission lines to local distributors for sale to customers. Individual undertakings continued to own and operate the power stations and sold their electricity to the Central Electricity Board. By 1934, the National Grid system was serving most parts of Britain. A Government White Paper issued in 1937 proposed that the Electricity Commissioners should prepare schemes for the integration of distribution undertakings into larger groups, but the Second World War prevented legislation.
The British Electricity Authority In 1947, as part of the programme of post war reconstruction through public ownership, the government nationalised the electricity industry of England, Wales and Scotland. The Minister of Fuel and Power was responsible for the industry. The British Electricity Authority was formed to run the power stations and National Grid and to co-ordinate the work of the new Area Electricity Boards which took over the five hundred and sixty existing electricity undertakings.
The Area Boards were responsible for the distribution and sale of electricity to customers. In addition, they undertook contracting work and the sale of electrical appliances. There were twelve boards in England and Wales and two in southern Scotland.
On the 1st April 1955 the Authority was replaced with the Central Electricity Authority because of the introduction of the Electricity Reoragnisation (Scotland) Act 1954. The Authority looked after interests in England and Wales while the South of Scotland Electricity Board was formed to look after generation, distribution and electricity supply in Southern and Central Scotland.
Central Electricity Authority Governing body which ran the electricity supply industry, it replaced the British Electricity Authority (BEA) which had been established under the Electricity Act, 1947. The authority was reorganised because of the Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act, 1954. This saw two of the Authority’s undertakings in Scotland merged into a new public body, the South of Scotland Electricity Board. At the same time the British Electricity Authority titled was changed to the Central Electricity Authority. The Authority oversaw 12 Area Boards instead of the previous 14 and a reduction from 13 to 11 in the number of its Generating Divisions.
The Area Boards consisted of the following regions;
1) London
2) South Eastern
3) Southern
4) South Western
5) Eastern
6) East Midlands
7) Midlands
8) South Wales
9) Merseyside and N. Wales
10) Yorkshire
11) North Eastern
12) North Western
The Generating Divisions corresponded to those of the Area Boards except for the North West, Merseyside and N. Wales and the South Western and South Wales Division which were extended.
Scope and ContentThe collection consists of minutes, agenda, annual reports and accounts, advertisements, photographs, films, and photographic images relating to the Electricity Council and its predecessor organisations and also to the many associated committees and groups dating from the 1880s to the 1990s.
Predecessor organisations represented include: early private electricity companies; the Electricity Commissioners (1920-1947); the Central Electricity Board (1927-1948); the British Electricity Authority (1947-1954); the Area Electricity Boards (1947-1990); the Central Electricity Authority (1955-1957).
Related organisations include: the Electrical Development Association (1919-1966); the Electrical Association for Women (1924-1986).
Extentc1200 linear metres
LanguageEnglish
Archival historyThe Electricity Council was established in 1958 when the Central Electricity Authority was split into two separate bodies. The Electricity Council acted as a Think-Tank, advising the Government on the Electricity Supply Industry, and was the sister organisation to the Central Electricity Generating Board. The Electricity Council retained control of the archives for all its predecessor organisations, as well as the Electrical Development Association, the Electrical Association for Women and its own library of material relating to the Electricity Supply Industry. The material was donated to the Museum in 1989 when the Electricity Supply Industry was once again privatised and the Electricity Council was replaced by the Electricity Association. The Electricity Association had no archive-keeping responsibilities but, recognising the value of its archives, decided that permanent preservation of the collection would be best met at the Museum, as the home of the National Electricity Gallery.
Levelfonds
Repository nameScience and Industry Museum
Associated people and organisationsElectrical Development Association The British Electrical Development Association was formed by a group of engineers, generators and suppliers of electricity and electrical goods in order to co-ordinate sales and marketing campaigns effectively. The Association’s records include minutes, annual reports and advertising publications such as leaflets, posters and films designed to promote the use of electricity in the home and in the workplace. The records also include reports of annual sales conferences and a series of instruction manuals and handbooks. The Association became the Electrical Development Advisory Service of the Electricity Council in January 1966. The Council’s marketing department took over its functions from 1968 until privatisation.
The Electrical Association for Women
Conditions governing accessOpen access.
Conditions governing ReproductionCopies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions.
AppraisalDuplicates have been discarded.
System of arrangementThe Electricity Council's own system of arrangement has been retained, with some alteration of references.
