Timeline of the UK electricity supply industry

This timeline outlines the key developments in the United Kingdom electricity industry from the start of electricity supplies in the 1870s to the present day. It identifies significant developments in technology for the generation, transmission and use of electricity; outlines developments in the structure of the industry including key organisations and facilities; and records the legislation and regulations that have governed the UK electricity industry.  

The first part is a chronological table of significant events; the second part is a list of local acts of Parliament (1879–1948) illustrating the growth of electricity supplies.

Significant events

The following is a list of significant events in the history of the electricity sector in the United Kingdom.

Local legislation timeline

In addition to the public general acts on electricity supply given in the above table, there were also local acts. The Electric Lighting Acts 1882 to 1909 permitted local authorities and companies to apply to the Board of Trade for provisional orders and licences to supply electricity. The orders were confirmed by local Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation Acts. Local authorities and companies could also obtain local acts for electricity supply. A sample of local acts is given in the table below.^[28] Note that local acts have a chapter number for the relevant year in lower-case Roman numerals.

See also

• Energy policy of the United Kingdom
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Energy switching services in the UK
• UK enterprise law

References

1. Peter G. Lamb, Electricity in Bristol 1863-1948 (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 48, 1981), p. 1
2. Hannah (1979).
3. Electricity Council (1987), p. 18.
4. Peter G. Lamb, Electricity in Bristol 1863-1948 (Bristol Historical Association pamphlets, no. 48, 1981), pp. 7-8.
5. Electricity Council (1987).
6. Electricity Council (1987), p. 41.
7. Hannah (1979), p. 75.
8. Electricity Council (1987), p. 50.
9. "Hansard Debates House of Lords". Hansard. 1936. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
10. Hannah (1979), p. 302.
11. Hannah (1979), p. 256.
12. Pugh, H.V. (November 1957). "The generation of electricity in the London area". Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. 105 (23): 486.
13. "Hansard Debate House of Lords". Hansard. 1961. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
14. Electricity and Gas Act 1963
15. Horrocks, Sally; Lean, Thomas (November 2011). An Oral History of the Electricity Supply Industry (PDF). p. 15. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
16. Electricity Council (1987), p. 92.
17. Gas and Electricity Act 1968
18. Peter Pearson; Jim Watson (2012). UK Energy Policy 1980-2010 (PDF) (Report). The Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies. ISBN 978-1-84919-580-5. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
19. "Records of the Office of Electricity Regulation". National Archives. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
20. "Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
21. "Central Electricity Generating Board (Dissolution) Order (2001)".
22. "The Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003". Legislation.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
23. "Électricité de France agrees to pay $23 billion for British Energy". New York Times. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
24. "RWE's Aberthaw coal plant to cease generation December 13". S&P Global Platts. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
25. "Fiddler's Ferry: Coal-fired power station closes after 50 years". BBC. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
26. Fender, Keith (November 2021). "Channel Tunnel electricity link goes live". Modern Railways. 78 (878): 80.
27. "Hunterston B nuclear power plant closes down after 46 years". BBC News. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
28. "Chronological Table of Local Acts". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
29. "St Marylebone Electricity Supply Undertaking". National Archives.

Sources

• Cochrane, R.; Schaefer, M. (1990). The CEGB Story. London: CEGB.
• Duncan, Ben (1996). "Public Service Obligations in a Competitive Electricity Market" (Microsoft Word document).^{[permanent dead link]}
• "Gas and Electricity Act 1968", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 3 July 1968, 1968 c. 39
• "Electricity Act 1989", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 27 July 1989, 1989 c. 29
• Electricity Supply in the United Kingdom: A Chronology. London: Electricity Council. 1987. ISBN 085188105X.
• Eyles, William E. (December 2005). "Electricity in Bath 1890 – 1974" (PDF). Histelec News (Supplement 31). South Western Electricity Historical Society. — explains the 1882 Act
• Hannah, Leslie (1979). Electricity Before Nationalisation, A Study in the Development of the Electricity Supply Industry in Britain to 1948. London & Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers for the Electricity Council. ISBN 0-8018-2145-2.
• Hannah, Leslie (1982). Engineers, Managers and Politicians. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333220870.
• Luckin, Bill (1990). Questions of Power: Electricity and the Environment in Inter-war Britain. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719033025.
• Pedroche, Ben (2013). London's Lost Power Stations and Gasworks. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 9780752487618.
• Sheail, John (1991). Power in Trust: The Environmental History of the Central Electricity Generating Board. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 0198546734.
• "UK Electricity Networks" (PDF). Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-05-19. — "Postnote" 163