Electricity Act 1947

1Main functions of Electricity Boards.

(1)There shall be established an Authority, to be known as the British Electricity Authority, and it shall be the duty of that Authority as from the vesting date to develop and maintain an efficient, co-ordinated and economical system of electricity supply for all parts of Great Britain except the North of Scotland District, and for that purpose—

(a)to generate or acquire supplies of electricity;

(b)to provide bulk supplies of electricity for the Area Boards hereinafter established for distribution by those Boards;

(c)to co-ordinate the distribution of electricity by Area Boards and to exercise a general control over the policy of those Boards; and

(d)to provide supplies of electricity for consumers for whom the British Electricity Authority are required by any provision of this Act or may for the time being be authorised by the Minister to provide such supplies.

(2)There shall be established Boards, to be known by the names mentioned in the first column of the First Schedule to this Act, for the areas which are described in general terms in the second column of that Schedule and are to be defined by orders made under this Part of this Act, and it shall be the duty of every such Board as from the vesting date to acquire from the British Electricity Authority bulk supplies of electricity and to plan and carry out an efficient and economical distribution of those supplies to persons in their area who require them.

(3)In this Act and in any amendment made by this Act in any other enactment the British Electricity Authority is referred to as " the Central Authority " and the Boards established under the last foregoing subsection are referred to as " Area Boards " and the Central Authority and the Area Boards, together with the North of Scotland Board, are referred to as " Electricity Boards ".

(4)Any Area Board may—

(a)by agreement with any other Area Board and with tile approval of the Central Authority, give to or acquire from that other Area Board bulk supplies of electricity;

(b)by agreement with any person other than an Electricity Board and with the approval of the Central Authority, acquire bulk supplies of electricity from that person; and

(c)by agreement with any other Area Board, supply electricity to consumers in the area of that other Area Board.

If any Area Board are unable to obtain the agreement of another Area Board under paragraph (c) of this subsection, they may apply to the Central Authority for an authorisation to supply electricity to consumers in such part of the area of that other Area Board as may be specified in the authorisation, and, if the Central Authority gives such an authorisation, the first-named Area Board shall have power to supply electricity in accordance therewith.

(5)The provisions of the last foregoing subsection shall apply in relation to the North of Scotland Board and the North of Scotland District as if that Board were an Area Board and that District were the area of an Area Board, subject to the modification that any approval of the acquisition of bulk supplies of electricity from any person in the North of Scotland District and any authorisation for the supply of electricity by an Area Board to consumers in the North of Scotland District shall be given by the Secretary of State.

(6)In exercising and performing their functions the Electricity Boards shall, subject to and in accordance with any directions given by the Minister or Secretary of State under this Part of this Act—

(a)promote the use of all economical methods of generating, transmitting and distributing electricity;

(b)secure, so far as practicable, the development, extension to rural areas and cheapening of- supplies of electricity;

(c)avoid undue preference in the provision of such supplies;

(d)promote the simplification and standardisation of methods of charge for such supplies;

(e)promote the standardisation of systems of supply and types of electrical fittings;

and shall also promote the welfare, health and safety of persons in the employment of the Boards.

(7)As from the vesting date, the powers and duties of the North of Scotland Board under the Act of 1943, with regard to the generation of electricity by water power shall extend to the generation of electricity by any other means, and the North of Scotland District shall be altered so as to include the county of the city of Dundee, the whole of the counties of Angus and Perth and the county of Kinross, and so as to exclude the parish of Rosneath in the county of Dunbarton.