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, with the 12 area electricity boards (AEB), formed under the Electricity Act 1947 being responsible for the distribution and supply of electricity 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 | |
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Formerly the South of Scotland Electricity Board became Scottish Power Plc
Formerly the North of Scotland Hydro Board became Scottish Hydro-Electric Plc then went on to merge with Southern Electric to become Scottish & Southern
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.
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. The distribution business is owned by EDF
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.
Formerly Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board. Manweb plc was acquired by Scottish Power in 1995, now SP Manweb plc.
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.
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 UK.
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, now part of E.On and the distribution network becoming Electricity North West.
Formerly South Eastern Electricity Board. Now owned by EDF
Formerly South Wales Electricity Board, later known as SWALEC. SWALEC was later acquired by Scottish & Southern Energy plc, with the distribution business now part of Western Power Distribution
Formerly South Western Electricity Board, SWEB was acquired by London Electricity (owned by EDF) in 1999. The distribution business is part of Western Power Distribution
Formerly Southern Electricity Board merged in 1998 with Scottish Hydro-Electric plc to form Scottish & Southern Energy plc.
Formerly Yorkshire Electricity Board