Ministry of Power (United Kingdom)

Last updated

Ministry of Power
Department overview
Formed11 June 1942
Preceding agencies
Dissolved6 October 1969
Superseding agency
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom

The Ministry of Power was a United Kingdom government ministry dealing with issues concerning energy.

Contents

The Ministry of Power (then named Ministry of Fuel and Power) was created on 11 June 1942 from functions separated from the Board of Trade. It took charge of coal production, allocation of fuel supplies, control of energy prices and petrol rationing. These had previously been dealt with by the Secretary for Mines and in the case of petroleum since 1940 by the Secretary for Petroleum. The Petroleum Board, responsible for the coordination of the war-time petroleum 'pool' for oil supplies (except oil for the Royal Navy), continued in this role until the Board was dissolved in 1948. It also took over responsibility for electricity from the Ministry of War Transport and its predecessor the Ministry of Transport.

The Ministry of Fuel and Power was renamed the Ministry of Power in January 1957. The Ministry of Power later became part of the Ministry of Technology on 6 October 1969, which merged into the Department of Trade and Industry on 20 October 1970. In 1974, its responsibilities were split out to form the Department of Energy, and then merged back into DTI in 1992; a separate Department of Energy and Climate Change was created in 2008 and then merged back in 2016 to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Those who worked at the Ministry include:

Ministers

Ministers of Fuel and Power

NameTook officeLeft officePolitical partyNotes
Gwilym Lloyd-George 3 June 194226 July 1945Liberal
Emanuel Shinwell 3 August 19457 October 1947Labour
Hugh Gaitskell 7 October 194728 February 1950LabourOffice no longer in Cabinet
Philip Noel-Baker 28 February 195031 October 1951Labour
Geoffrey Lloyd 31 October 195120 December 1955Conservative
Aubrey Jones 20 December 195513 January 1957Conservative

Ministers of Power

NameTook officeLeft officePolitical partyNotes
The Lord Mills 13 January 195714 October 1959Conservative
Richard Wood 14 October 195920 October 1963ConservativeOffice not in Cabinet
Frederick Erroll 20 October 1963ConservativeOffice back in Cabinet
Fred Lee 18 October 19646 April 1966Labour
Richard Marsh 6 April 19666 April 1968Labour
Ray Gunter 6 April 19681 July 1968Labour
Roy Mason 1 July 19686 October 1969LabourOffice abolished: Amalgamated with Ministry of Technology

Parliamentary Secretaries

NameTook officeLeft officePartyNotes
Geoffrey Lloyd 3 June 194223 May 1945ConservativeJointly
Tom Smith 3 June 194223 May 1945LabourJointly
Sir Austin Hudson, Bt 26 May 194526 July 1945Conservative
William Foster 4 August 194510 May 1946Labour
Hugh Gaitskell 10 May 19467 October 1947Labour
Alfred Robens 7 October 194726 April 1951Labour
Harold Neal 26 April 195131 October 1951Labour
Lancelot Joynson-Hicks 5 November 195120 December 1955Conservative
David Lockhart-Mure Renton 20 December 1955Conservative
David Renton 18 January 195717 January 1958ConservativeTo Ministry of Power
Sir Ian Horobin 17 January 195822 October 1959Conservative
John George 22 October 195925 June 1962Conservative
John Peyton 25 June 196218 October 1964Conservative
John Morris 21 October 196410 January 1966Labour
Lord Lindgren 10 January 19666 April 1966Labour
Jeremy Bray 6 April 19667 January 1967Labour
Reginald Freeson 7 January 19676 October 1969LabourOffice abolished

See also


Related Research Articles

An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply national electricity grids or those used as fuel in industrial development and population growth have led to a surge in the global demand for energy in recent years. In the 2000s, this new demand – together with Middle East tension, the falling value of the US dollar, dwindling oil reserves, concerns over peak oil, and oil price speculation – triggered the 2000s energy crisis, which saw the price of oil reach an all-time high of $147.30 per barrel ($926/m3) in 2008.

Operation Pluto Undersea oil pipeline operation in World War II

Operation Pluto was an operation by British engineers, oil companies and the British Armed Forces to construct submarine oil pipelines under the English Channel in support of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy during the Second World War.

The Ministry of Energy’s responsibility is ensuring that Ontario's electricity system functions with reliability and productivity, and promoting innovation in the energy sector. In April 2002, it was renamed the Ministry of Energy, with the newly created Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation taking over responsibility for its science and technology portfolio. It was integrated as the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure between 2007 and 2010, before it was split back into the Ministry of Energy on August 18, 2010. The Minister of Energy is the Honourable Greg Rickford.

The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircraft production, and the Admiralty retained responsibilities for supplying the Royal Navy. During the war years the MoS was based at Shell Mex House in The Strand, London.

The position of Secretary for Mines is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Lloyd, Baron Geoffrey-Lloyd</span> British politician (1902–1984)

Geoffrey William Geoffrey-Lloyd, Baron Geoffrey-Lloyd, PC, was a British Conservative politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment</span> Irish government department

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment who is assisted by two Ministers of State.

CLH Pipeline System

The CLH Pipeline System, formerly the Government Pipelines and Storage System (GPSS), is a United Kingdom pipeline system run by CLH. The network at one time consisted of over 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) of pipeline and 46 other facilities. However, several of these facilities were closed before the GPSS was sold in 2015 and a number of the pipelines were mothballed and later abandoned. Earlier the total number of facilities on the GPSS was much larger than 46. For example, in 1989 there were 40 Petroleum Storage Depots in operation plus large numbers of other facilities such as pump-stations, junctions, and ingress and egress points. It is interconnected with some other commercial pipeline systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy policy of the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the energy policy of the United Kingdom

The energy policy of the United Kingdom has achieved success in reducing energy intensity, reducing energy poverty, and maintaining energy supply reliability to date. The United Kingdom has an ambitious goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for future years, but it is unclear whether the programs in place are sufficient to achieve this objective. Regarding energy self sufficiency, the United Kingdom policy does not address this issue, other than to concede historic energy self sufficiency is currently ceasing to exist. With regard to transport, the United Kingdom historically has a good policy record encouraging public transport links with cities, despite encountering problems with high speed trains, which have the potential to reduce dramatically domestic and short-haul European flights. The policy does not, however, significantly encourage hybrid vehicle use or ethanol fuel use, options which represent viable short term means to moderate rising transport fuel consumption. Regarding renewable energy, the United Kingdom has goals for wind and tidal energy. The White Paper on Energy, 2007, set the target that 20% of the UK's energy must come from renewable sources by 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy security</span> National security considerations of energy availability

Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to (relatively) cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led to significant vulnerabilities. International energy relations have contributed to the globalization of the world leading to energy security and energy vulnerability at the same time.

The Department of Energy was a department of the United Kingdom Government. The Department was established in January 1974, when the responsibility for energy production was transferred away from the Department of Trade and Industry in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and with the importance of North Sea oil increasing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy policy of Canada</span> About Canadas federal and provincial energy policies

Canada has access to all main sources of energy including oil and gas, coal, hydropower, biomass, solar, geothermal, wind, marine and nuclear. It is the world's second largest producer of uranium, third largest producer of hydro-electricity, fourth largest natural gas producer, and the fifth largest producer of crude oil. In 2006, only Russia, the People's Republic of China, the United States and Saudi Arabia produce more total energy than Canada.

The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport, bringing responsibility for both shipping and land transport to a single department, and easing problems of co-ordination of transport in wartime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy law</span> Law governing the use and taxation of energy

Energy laws govern the use and taxation of energy, both renewable and non-renewable. These laws are the primary authorities related to energy. In contrast, energy policy refers to the policy and politics of energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Saudi Arabia</span> Overview of the energy use in Saudi Arabia

Energy in Saudi Arabia involves petroleum and natural gas production, consumption, and exports, and electricity production. Saudi Arabia is the world's leading oil producer and exporter. Saudi Arabia's economy is petroleum-based; oil accounts for 90% of the country's exports and nearly 75% of government revenue. The oil industry produces about 45% of Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, against 40% from the private sector. Saudi Arabia has per capita GDP of $20,700. The economy is still very dependent on oil despite diversification, in particular in the petrochemical sector.

The energy policy of the Soviet Union was an important feature of the country's planned economy from the time of Lenin onward. The Soviet Union was virtually self-sufficient in energy; major development of the energy sector started with Stalin's autarky policy of the 1920s. During the country's 70 years of existence (1922-1991), it primarily secured economic growth based on large inputs of natural resources. But by the 1960s this method had become less efficient. In contrast to other nations who shared the same experience, technological innovation was not strong enough to replace the energy sector in importance.

The position of Secretary for Petroleum is a now defunct office in the United Kingdom Government, associated with the Board of Trade.

The Petroleum Board was a non-governmental organisation, established at the outbreak of World War II, to coordinate wartime supplies of petroleum and petroleum products throughout the United Kingdom. It was composed of senior executives of the major oil companies who operated an ‘oil pool’ with distribution controlled by the Board. The board was dissolved in June 1948 nearly three years after hostilities ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuel and Electricity (Control) Act 1973</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Fuel and Electricity (Control) Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which empowered the Secretary of State to control the production, supply, acquisition and use of petroleum, petroleum derived products, substances used as fuel, and electricity.

The 2021–present global energy crisis is the most recent in a series of circular energy shortages experienced over the last fifty years. It is more acutely affecting countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and China, among others. The crisis has emerged in oil, gas and electricity markets.