ABSTRACT
At the end of the 1930s a little more than 10 per cent of British farms were connected to a supply of mains electricity, and farm sales accounted for less than one-half of 1 per cent of total electricity sales; fifty years later the figure had reached as near to 100 per cent as it was likely to get, although sales still accounted for less than 2 per cent of the total. This chapter sets out to explore the process of electrification, to explain why it happened when it did and not sooner or later, and to make some assessment of its impact. It relies on existing evidence from national sources but also presents new evidence that relates specifically to South West England in an attempt to explore electrification at the level of the individual farm. From the perspective of the early twenty-first century the significance of electrification, both for the domestic comfort of the farm family and the working of the farm, is so obvious that it hardly needs to be stated. Yet it is important to remember that a century earlier, when electricity supply companies were first being formed, it was by no means clear that a supply of electricity was even desirable, let alone necessary, as far as most farmers were concerned. They had the power that they needed from horses, steam and stationary oil engines, and tried and trusted sources of illumination. Why, when the economics of farming were uncertain, invest scarce capital and incur additional running costs in a potentially lethal source of light and power of which they had no experience?
