The London Electricity Board was the
public sector utility company responsible for the supply and distribution of electricity to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in
London prior to 1990. It also sold and made available for hire and hire-purchase domestic electrical appliances through local showrooms where electricity bills could also be paid. It was shortened to LEB in its green and blue logo, consisting of the three letters. As ''London Electricity plc'' it was listed on the
London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
.
History
The board was formed as the London Electricity Board on 1 April 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the
Electricity Act 1947. The LEB was privatised in 1990 under the
Electricity Act 1989, as London Electricity
plc.
The company was acquired by ''
Entergy'', a
US company, in 1996 and then by ''
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. (literally ''Electricity of France''), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational electric utility company, largely owned by the French state. Headquartered in Paris, with €71.2 billion in revenues in 2 ...
'' in November 1998.
Notable employees of the business include former prime minister
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...
and the former archbishop of Canterbury,
George Carey.
"Dr Rowan Williams 104th Archbishop of Canterbury - The Archbishops from Augustine to Williams"
/ref>
Chairmen of the LEB
* 1948–1956, Henry John Randall (born 30 December 1894 London, died 5 May 1967 Buckinghamshire), previously managing director of the City of London Electric Lighting Company
The City of London Electric Lighting Company Limited (CLELCo) was a British electricity undertaking. It was formed in July 1891 to generate and supply electricity to the City of London and part of north Southwark. It owned and operated Bankside ...
.[Who was Who]
* 1956–1968, David Blair Irving (born 9 November 1903, died 9 June 1986)
* 1968–1972, Wilfrid David Drysdale Fenton (born 27 March 1908, died 4 May 1985)
* 1972–1976, Owen Francis (born 4 October 1912, died 26 July 2005)
* 1976–1981, Alan Plumpton (born 24 November 1926)
* 1981–1986, David G Jefferies[LEB Annual Reports]
* 1986–1990, John Wilson
Other members of the board were: Deputy Chairman C.G. Moss (1964, 1967), Full-time member C.A.F. Beaumont (1964, 1967).
Customers
The total number of customers supplied by the board were:
Electricity sales
The amount of electricity sold, in GWh, by the LEB over its operational life was as follows:
References
See also
* List of pre-nationalisation UK electric power companies
* EDF Energy
{{Authority control
Electric power companies of the United Kingdom
Energy companies established in 1990
Defunct companies based in London
British companies established in 1990
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
1948 establishments in England