London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited

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London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryEnergy: Electricity supply
PredecessorSee text
FoundedFebruary 1935
Defunct31 March 1948
FateNationalisation
SuccessorBritish Electricity Authority, London Electricity Board
Headquarters
London
Area served
Central and West London
Key people
see text
ServicesElectricity supply

London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited was an electricity supply company that operated in central and west London from 1935 to 1948. It was founded to acquire, combine and coordinate the electricity distribution interests of six west London electricity companies.

Contents

History

The London Power Company was established in 1925 by ten London electricity undertakings to centralise the generation of electricity at Battersea Power Station. [1] The constituent companies continued as electricity distribution and sales undertakings.

In 1934, six electricity supply companies in west and central London wished to bring the distribution resources of their constituent companies together into one organisation. This was to standardise and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of electricity supplies in a single organisation. [2] The six constituent companies were the:

The London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited was registered as a public company in February 1935. This was under the provisions of the London Electricity (No. 2) Act 1925 (14 & 15 Geo. 5. c. lxiii). The undertaking's declared policy was: [3]

  1. To build up a single effective organisation in place of the six existing organisations;
  2. To secure as soon as possible the greatest uniformity in tariffs on the lowest basis attainable;
  3. To make the best possible speed towards the completion of the engineering programme of the companies in adopting the standard system laid down by the Central Electricity Board.

The administrative mechanism to achieve integration was for the Charing Cross Electricity Supply Company to take over the other five companies and to change its name to Central London Electricity Limited. With effect from 1 January 1937 the whole of the shares of Central London Electricity Limited were held by the non-statutory body London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited. [4] Compensation to directors of the constituent companies was set at three years gross fees for loss of office. [3]

The company was able to standardise electricity supplies (240 V, 50 Hz AC) in the combined area and reduced costs significantly. However, the company was unable to attract further companies to the merger. [5]

The war years (1939–45) were difficult for the company. The sale of electricity fell by 30 per cent; the number of consumers fell by 39 per cent and the electrical load by 37.5 per cent. Tariffs had to be increased in 1940 and 1943. [6] The amount of war damage was estimated to be £600,000, with bulk supply sub-stations damaged on 55 occasions and 139 transformer chambers and 1,424 cables were damaged. Recovery began in 1944 with increases in both sales and the number of consumers. [6]

In 1948 the London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited and Central London Electricity Limited head office was at 60 St. Martins Lane. There were showrooms at: 143/7 Regent Street; 31 Belgrave Road; 254 Earl's Court Road; 147 Sloane Street; and 12 Victoria Street. [7]

The London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited and Central London Electricity Limited were abolished on 31 March 1948 under the terms of the Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54) [8] which nationalised the British electricity supply industry. The company's high voltage bulk electricity transmission systems were vested in the British Electricity Authority. [9] The local distribution systems and the electricity sales functions were vested in the London Electricity Board (LEB).

Key people

Chairmen of London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited were: [6]

Electricity supply statistics

The electricity supply statistics for the six constituent companies in 1936, the final year of independent operation, were as follows. [4]

CompanyElectricity sold, MWhMaximum load, MWConnection, MWNo. of consumers
Brompton and Kensington21,4339.3051.05614,722
Charing Cross116,45448.988119.73111,614
Chelsea37,72910.35055.13111,462
Kensington and Knightsbridge40,10014.32064.2587,903
St James and Pall Mall56,11622.11155.6656,045
Westminster124,24947.766200.45028,607

Operating data for the London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited and Central London Electricity Limited was as shown. [2] [6]

YearElectricity sold, MWhConnections, MWNo. of Consumers
1934314,000450
1935350,000489
1936386,000
1937419,000592
1938432,00086,000
1939–42No accounts published during the war
1943303,00053,000
1944348,00076,684
1945382,25083,800
1946450,00090,600
1947433,000

Finances

The combined share capital of the constituent companies in 1935 was £6,892,194. [2] The London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited was able to carry out the amalgamation for £7,300. [3]

The electricity tariffs and operational revenue was as follows. [3] [6]

YearTariff, d./kWhRevenue, £
19341.8042,460,000
19351.6822,500,000
19361.6242,658,600
19370.52,782,600
19381.451
1944+487,000
1945+364,000
1946+394,000
1947–221,000

See also

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References

  1. London County Council (1934). London Statistics vol.37 (1932–3). London: London County Council. pp. 330–1.
  2. 1 2 3 "Electricity Scheme". The Times. 6 February 1935. p. 18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited". The Times. 20 March 1936. p. 22.
  4. 1 2 London County Council (1939). London Statistics vol.41 (1936–8). London: London County Council. p. 386.
  5. Hannah, Leslie (1979). Electricity before Nationalisation. London: Macmillan. p. 247. ISBN   0333220862.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 The Times, ‘London Associated Electricity Undertakings Limited’ 24 March 1937 p. 26; 23 March 1938 p. 21; 22 March 1939 p. 22; 21 March 1940 p. 14; 14 April 1945 p. 8; 4 April 1946 p. 8; 20 June 1947 p. 9; 5 April 1948 p. 7.
  7. Horne. "London Area Power Supply" (PDF). metadyne. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. "Electricity Act 1947". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  9. Electricity Council (1987). Electricity supply in the United Kingdom: a Chronology. London: Electricity Council. pp. 60–61. ISBN   085188105X.