The Electricity Act 1947 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 the British Electricity Authority (BEA) to own and operate all public electricity generation and transmission facilities and created 14 area electricity boards with a duty to acquire bulk supplies of electricity from the central authority and to distribute and sell electricity economically and efficiently to industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. It vested 505 separate local authority and company owned electricity undertakings in the BEA with effect from 1 April 1948. The Electricity Act 1947 is one of a number of Acts promulgated by the post-war Labour government to nationalise elements of the UK’s industrial infrastructure; other Acts include the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946; Transport Act 1947 ; Gas Act 1948; and Iron and Steel Act 1949.
British Gas is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Serving around twelve million homes in the United Kingdom, British Gas is the biggest energy supplier in the country, and is considered one of the Big Six dominating the gas and electricity market in the United Kingdom.
The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) was a statutory body of the UK Government that provided loans to public bodies from the National Loans Fund. In 2020, the PWLB was abolished as a statutory organisation, and its functions were allocated to HM Treasury, where they are discharged through the UK Debt Management Office. The members of the PWLB were known as the Public Works Loan Commissioners.
The Electricity Act 1957 was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The principal impact of the Act was the dissolution of the Central Electricity Authority, which it replaced with the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) and the Electricity Council.
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United Kingdom. It established the National Coal Board as the managing authority for coal mining and coal processing activities. It also initially provided for the establishment of consumers' councils. The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 was the first of a number of Acts promulgated by the post-war Labour government to nationalise elements of the UK's industrial infrastructure; other Acts include the Electricity Act 1947; the Transport Act 1947 ; the Gas Act 1948; and the Iron and Steel Act 1949.
The Electricity Act 1989 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 Electricity Board and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. The Act also established a licensing regime and a regulator for the industry called the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER), which has since become the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM).
The Gas Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or bought into state control, the gas making and supply industry in Great Britain. It established 12 area gas boards to own and operate all public gas-making, distribution and sales facilities and created a central authority: the Gas Council. It vested the existing local authority and company-owned gas undertakings into the area boards with effect from 1 May 1949. The Gas Act 1948 was one of a number of Acts promulgated by the post-war Labour government to nationalise elements of the UK's industrial infrastructure; other Acts include the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946; the Electricity Act 1947; Transport Act 1947 ; and the Iron and Steel Act 1949.
The Gas Act 1972 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which restructured the British gas industry. It established the British Gas Corporation to exercise full responsibility for the oversight, control and operation of the gas industry. The twelve autonomous area gas boards which had managed the industry in their areas now became regions of the British Gas Corporation. The Gas Council, also established under the Gas Act 1948, was abolished and the Gas Act 1948 was repealed. The provisions of the Act came into force on 1 January 1973.
The Electricity (Supply) Act 1919 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the law with respect to the supply of electricity. It established the statutory body of the Electricity Commissioners ‘to promote, regulate and supervise the supply of electricity’ under the direction of the Board of Trade. It provided for the formation of electricity districts and, where necessary, the establishment of joint electricity authorities, ‘to provide or secure the provision of a cheap and abundant supply of electricity’.
The Electric Lighting Acts 1882 to 1909 are Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. They comprise four public general Acts: the Electric Lighting Act 1882 ; the Electric Lighting Act 1888 ; the Electric Lighting (Clauses) Act 1899 ; and the Electric Lighting Act 1909. The 1882 Act was the first public measure to facilitate and regulate the early electricity industry in the UK. It enabled the Board of Trade to authorise the supply of electricity in any area by a local authority, company or person. Its provisions allowed suppliers to avoid the effort and expense of promoting Private Parliamentary Bills to regularise their legal powers to supply electricity. The 1888 Act amended the 1882 Act and extended the local authority reversion period from 21 to 42 years. The Electric Lighting (Clauses) Act 1899 incorporated in one Act the clauses and provisions contained in provisional orders made under the 1882 and 1888 Acts. It laid down common principles to be incorporated in all provisional orders. The Electric Lighting Act 1909 amended the earlier legislation to reflect the need to reorganise electricity supply to take into account technical developments in the generation and transmission of electricity. The Electric Lighting Acts were amended by subsequent legislation, such as the Electricity Act 1947 which nationalised the electricity supply industry. The Electric Lighting Acts 1882 to 1909 were repealed in their entirety by the Electricity Act 1989, which privatised the UK electricity supply industry.
The Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the law on the supply of electricity. Its long title is: ‘An Act to amend the law with respect to the supply of electricity’. This Act was construed as one with the Electricity (Supply) Acts 1882 to 1922, and was cited as the Electricity (Supply) Acts 1882 to 1926. It established a statutory body, the Central Electricity Board (CEB), ‘with the duty of supplying electricity to authorised undertakers’ and to ‘appoint consultative technical committees’. It provided for the Electricity Commissioners to prepare and transmit to the CEB ‘electricity schemes’ for relevant areas, and which identified the most efficient ‘selected’ generating stations which were to be used to generate electricity for the Board. The Act provided for ‘main transmission line’ interconnections between selected stations and undertakings; and to standardise the frequency of generation; and other purposes. The provisions of the Act enabled the construction of the National Grid.
The Gas Council was a UK government body that provided strategic oversight of the gas industry in England, Wales and Scotland between 1949 and 1972.
The Electricity (Supply) Act 1922 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the law on the supply of electricity. This Act was construed as one with the Electricity (Supply) Acts 1882 to 1919, and was cited as the Electricity (Supply) Acts 1882 to 1922. It established the powers of electricity authorities to borrow money for the construction and operation of electricity generating and transmission systems; it amended some Sections of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1919 relating to electricity districts and joint electricity authorities; it empowered electricity authorities to provide a supply to railway companies; and established methods of reclaiming expenses of various statutory bodies.
The Gas Act 1965 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which extended the powers of the Gas Council to buy, make or supply gas; it authorised and controlled the underground storage of gas; and permitted the sale of industrial gas for non-fuel purposes. The Act was in response to changing technologies that had developed since the gas industry was nationalised in 1949.
The Energy Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the law to facilitate the generation and supply of electricity other than by Electricity Boards. It also obliged Electricity Boards to adopt combined heat and power schemes. It gave statutory status to the Electricity Consumers' Council. The Act defined the duties of persons responsible for nuclear installations and penalties for a breach of those duties.
The Electricity and Gas Act 1963 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which increased the amounts that could be borrowed by the Electricity Council, the electricity boards, the Gas Council, and the area gas boards. It enabled monetary advances to be made to these bodies, and provided for members of the bodies to be recompensed.
The Rights of Entry Act 1954 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulated the right of entry into premises by utility boards.
The Statutory Gas Companies Act 1925 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which facilitated the supply of electricity by gas companies.
The Electricity (Scotland) Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which raised the financial limit of Scottish electricity boards imposed by earlier legislation.
The Electricity (Scotland) Act 1979 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which consolidated enactments relating to the Scottish electricity boards and removed certain anomalies.
