Following the Second World War, the UK had some 560 electricity suppliers, of which approximately one-third were

privately owned Under an Act of 1943, electricity supply in the north of Scotland was placed under the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (the Hydro-Electric Board), a public corporation established to develop the water power resources of the Highlands. Under the Electricity Act of 1947, the electricity industry in England, Wales and south of Scotland was reorganised and nationalised. The act established the British Electricity Authority (BEA) as a public corporation responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity, as well as for the policy and finances of the supply industry The Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1954 established the independent south of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) from the two Scottish area boards and the BEAs two Scottish generating divisions At this time, the BEA was renamed the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The Electricity Act of 1957 further reorganised the electricity industry in England and Wales. the CEA was replaced by two new statutory bodies the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) and the Electricity Council. CEGB owned and operated the transmission system and the generating stations in England and Wales The Electricity Council exercised a co-ordinating role on matters of industry-wide concern council also had certain specific duties, including offering advice to the government on behalf of the industry as a whole, and promoting and assisting the maintenance and development, by the electricity boards in England and Wales, of an efficient, co-ordinated and economical system of electricity supply. pre-privatisation structure of the electricity industry in Great Britain was, therefore, characterised by extensive vertical integration of generation, transmission, distribution and supply