CHAPTER 2

SUPPLY AUTHORITY ORGANISATION (ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND)

2.1       BRIEF HISTORY

Before the 1926 Electricity (Supply) Act the country was served by no less than 623 private electricity undertakings operating 479 separate generating stations, each providing a local supply at whatever voltage they chose.  Some supplies were d.c.; others were a.c., and the frequencies varied between 25Hz and 100Hz.

Clearly this could not continue if the industry was to prosper on a national level.  The 1926 Act created the ‘Central Electricity Board’ (CEB).  This body controlled the siting and construction of power stations but did not actually own or operate them; it also established the National Grid.  It did however operate and control the grid system, buying power from the power stations and selling it to the distributing authorities, which continued as private companies or municipal authorities.

2.2       GENERATION

In 1947 the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was set up.  It took over all generation and thereafter owned and operated all power stations in addition to operating the national grid system. The change of name reflected this new responsibility.  The 1947 Act also set up a number of Area Electricity Boards to take over all distribution in England and Wales and also to take over all tariff charges from the existing private companies.

England and Wales were divided by the CEGB, for administrative purposes, into five regions, each with one or more Regional Control Centres - see Figure 2.1.  There is also a National Control Centre in London which co-ordinates the regions.

2.3       DISTRIBUTION

The CEGB does not in general supply individual consumers direct (except by special arrangement) but under the 1947 Act sells its power in bulk to twelve Area Electricity Boards, whose names indicate the areas served and whose boundaries are shown in Figure 2.2.  They are:

·         London Electricity Board

·         South Eastern Electricity Board

·         Southern Electricity Board

·         South Western Electricity Board

·         South Wales Electricity Board

·         Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board

·         Midlands Electricity Board

·         North Western Electricity Board

·         North Eastern Electricity Board

·         Yorkshire Electricity Board

·         East Midlands Electricity Board

·         Eastern Electricity Board

FIGURE 2.1

CENTRAL ELECTRICITY GENERATING BOARD AND SCOTTISH BOARD REGIONS

The Area Boards buy their energy in bulk, usually at very high voltage, from the CEGB under a bulk supply tariff.  This bulk power, on receipt by the Area Boards, is transformed and distributed to substations at lower voltages and thence to consumers in their areas.  The transporting of energy from the CEGB power stations to the grid transformers at the ‘bulk supply points’ which supply each Area Board is known as ‘transmission’, and from that point on it is referred to as ‘distribution’. Discussion of the transmission and distribution voltages will be found in Chapter 3.

In Scotland the arrangement is different.  There are two authorities: the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (NOSHEB) and the South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB); both are shown in Figure 2.1.  These two authorities are each responsible for distribution as well as for generation and transmission in their areas.  They have direct contact with their consumers, whom they charge direct

All onshore establishments buy their energy from the appropriate Area Electricity Board or, in the case of their Scottish installations, direct from the NOSHEB or SSEB.

  

   

FIGURE 2.2

AREA ELECTRICITY BOARD TERRITORIES