List of pre-nationalisation UK electric power companies


The electrical power industry in the United Kingdom was nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947, when over six hundred electric power companies were merged into twelve area boards.

List of companies

Companies merged into [East Midlands Electricity Board] ([EMEB])

The Board's area was defined as: Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

Local authority undertakings

† Not listed in the Electricity Order, 1948, presumably had ceased before this date.

Companies merged into [Eastern Electricity Board] (EEB)

The Board's area was defined as: Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, the Isle of Ely, Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Middlesex, Oxfordshire and the Soke of Peterborough.

Local authority undertakings

The Board's area was defined as: The administrative County of London and parts of Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.

Local authority undertakings


† Not listed in the Electricity Order, 1948, presumably had ceased before this date. The Hampstead vestry established an electricity supply business in 1894, and this company may have been acquired by them, or never have become active.

Companies merged into Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board">MANWEB">Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board ([MANWEB])

The Board's area was defined as: Anglesey, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, Montgomeryshire and parts of Cardiganshire, Cheshire, Lancashire and Shropshire.

Local authority undertakings


The Board's area was defined as: Herefordshire, Worcestershire and parts of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

Local authority undertakings


The Board's area was defined as: Durham, Northumberland, the North Riding of Yorkshire and parts of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire.

Local authority undertakings

The Board's area was defined as: Cumberland, Westmorland and parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Local authority undertakings

† Only the electricity supply business was transferred, the SHMD board continued to operate public transport services.

Companies merged into [South East Scotland Electricity Board]

The Board's area was defined as: Berwickshire, Clackmannanshire, Fife, Lothians, Peebles, Selkirkshire, and parts of Dunbartonshire, Roxburghshire and Stirlingshire.

Local authority undertakings

† Musselburgh and District's trams were taken over by Edinburgh Corporation in 1928, although the company's name was not changed to reflect this.

Companies merged into [South Eastern Electricity Board] ([SEEBOARD])

The Board's area was defined as: Parts of Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex.

Local authority undertakings


''The Board's area was defined as: Brecknockshire, Carmarthenshire, Glamorganshire, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire and part of Cardiganshire.

Local authority undertakings

† Llanelly and District's trolleybus operation was sold to British Electric Traction in 1952.

Companies merged into [South West Scotland Electricity Board]

The Board's area was defined as: Ayrshire, Dumfries-shire, Glasgow, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Wigtownshire and parts of Dunbartonshire, Roxburghshire and Stirlingshire.

Local authority undertakings

The Board's area was defined as: Cornwall, Devonshire and parts of Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire and Somersetshire.

Local authority undertakings

The Board's area was defined as: Berkshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire and parts of Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Somersetshire, Surrey and Sussex.

Local authority undertakings

† Gas operations passed to North Thames Gas Board
‡ Gas operations passed to Southern Gas Board

Companies merged into [Yorkshire Electricity Board] (YEB)

The Board's area was defined as: Parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire.

Local authority undertakings