ABSTRACT
At the outset in Great Britain, electricity supply was undertaken by local companies authorized under the Electric Lighting Act of 1882 for particular areas and supplying local customers situated within a few miles of the source of power. But by 1919 something more was needed to send industrial power over longer distances at less cost, and in that year Parliament established under the Electricity Act a supervisory body known as the Electricity Commissioners. In 1926 another Electricity Act created the Central Electricity Board to supplement the regulatory work of the Electricity Commissioners. Both the Electricity Commissioners and the Central Electricity Board were abolished, and the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity were transferred to public ownership. The main difference between public corporations and the giants of the private world is that responsibility to the legislature and to the public is greater in the case of the public bodies.
