The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established as the Central Electricity Authority in 1948 with the nationalisation of the Great Britain's electricity supply industry. It was created by means of the Electricity Act 1947. The Authority took over the operations of over 600 small power companies, municipal authority electricity departments and the Central Electricity Board to form the BEA, which comprised a central authority and 14 area boards. The BEA was responsible for the generation, distribution and sale of electricity to users. It did not include control of the North of Scotland Hydro Board, which remained independent of the BEA.
Contents
Area boards
The new area boards were:
- East Midlands Electricity Board (EMEB)
- Eastern Electricity Board (EEB)
- London Electricity Board (LEB)
- Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board (MANWEB)
- Midlands Electricity Board (MEB)
- North Eastern Electricity Board (NEEB)
- North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB)
- South East Scotland Electricity Board
- South Eastern Electricity Board (SEEBOARD)
- South Wales Electricity Board (SWALEC)
- South West Scotland Electricity Board
- South Western Electricity Board (SWEB)
- Southern Electricity Board (SEB)
- Yorkshire Electricity Board (YEB)
Formation of the Central Electricity Authority
As a result of the Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1954, the British Electricity Authority was replaced on 1 April 1955 by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) for England and Wales. At the same time, the two Scottish Area Boards and the associated electricity generation and distribution plant were merged into the South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) to form an integrated electricity board responsible for generation, distribution and electricity supply in southern and central Scotland.