Public electricity network

Public Electricity Suppliers

Public Electricity Suppliers (PES) were the fourteen companies created when the electricity market in the United Kingdom was privatised. In England and Wales the Central Electricity Generating Board was responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity, while 12 Area Electricity Boards (AEB) were responsible for distribution and supply to consumers. In Scotland the structure was different with all aspects of generation, transmission, distribution and supply being carried out by two vertically integrated companies.

On 31 March 1990 as part of the privatisation of the electricity system in England and Wales the Area Electric Boards were changed into independent Regional Electricity Companies (RECs) and the CEGB was split into four companies, three generation companies and National Grid Company, operator of the National Grid. The National Grid Company was placed under the ownership of the RECs. On 11 December 1990 the RECs were privatised. In 1991, the vertically integrated Scottish boards were mainly privatised whole, with the exception of their nuclear plants which were passed to Scottish Nuclear, and later privatised as part of British Energy.

In 2000, as part of further restructuring of the market under the Utilities Act 2000, the Public Electricity Suppliers were required to have separate licenses for their supply business and distribution networks, which were renamed as Distribution Network Operators (DNOs).

Regional Electricity Companies in England and Wales

Key to Diagram

East Midlands Electricity
Eastern Electricity
London Electricity
MANWEB
Midlands Electricity
Northern Electric
NORWEB
SEEBOARD
South Wales Electricity
South Western Electricity
Southern Electric
Yorkshire Electricity

Public Electricity Suppliers

Scottish Power

Formerly the South of Scotland Electricity Board became Scottish Power Plc

Scottish Hydro-Electric

Formerly the North of Scotland Hydro Board became Scottish Hydro-Electric Plc then went on to merge with Southern Electric to become Scottish & Southern

East Midlands Electricity

Formerly (pre-privatisation) East Midlands Electricity Board. Acquired by Powergen in 1998. Rebranded with MEB as Central Networks in April 2004. The successor retail supply business is now part of E.On.

Eastern Electricity

Acquired by Hanson plc in 1995. Demerged from Hanson as part of The Energy Group plc. The Energy Group was later sold to the US firm Texas Utilities and became TXU Energi, part of TXU Europe. In 2002 it was sold to Powergen, which was subsequently acquired by the German utility company E.On, and the operations were rebranded in 2004.

London Electricity

Formerly London Electricity Board. Acquired by US based Entergy in 1996 for £1.3bn ($2.1bn). Acquired by EDF International in 1998, who merged it with SEEBOARD to form EDF Energy.

MANWEB

Formerly Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board. Manweb plc was acquired by Scottish Power in 1995, now SP Manweb plc.

Midlands Electricity (MEB)

Formerly Midland Electricity Board. MEB or Midlands Electricity was subject of a takeover bid by Powergen in 1996, however this was blocked. The company eventually did acquire the company in January 2004. In April 2004 MEB and East Midlands Electricity rebranded as Central Networks for distribution, and the domestic supply business now uses the name of its German parent E.On. The supplier side of the former MEB business is npower.

Northern Electric

Formerly North Eastern Electricity Board. The electricity distribution business is today operated by CE Electric UK, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. The successor company to the retail supply business is npower.

NORWEB

Formerly North Western Electricity Board. Merged with Northwest Water in 1995 to form United Utilities, the electricity businesses of which were subsequently sold off, with the retail supply arm of Norweb becoming part of TXU Energi, and so now part of E.On.