Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to provide for the establishment of a British Electricity Authority and Area Electricity Boards and for the exercise and performance by that Authority and those Boards and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board of functions relating to the supply of electricity and certain other matters; for the transfer to the said Authority or any such Board as aforesaid of property, rights, obligations and liabilities of electricity undertakers and other bodies; to amend the law relating to the supply of electricity; to make certain consequential provision as to income tax; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid. |
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Citation | 10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54 |
Territorial extent | Great Britain |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 13 August 1947 |
Commencement | 1 April 1948 |
Repealed | 31 March 1990 |
Other legislation | |
Amends | Electricity (Supply) Acts 1882 to 1935 |
Repeals/revokes | |
Status: Partially repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Text of the Electricity Act 1947 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or bought into state control, the electricity supply industry in Great Britain.[1] It established a central authority called the British Electricity Authority (BEA) to own and operate all public electricity generation and transmission facilities and created 14 area electricity boards with a duty to acquire bulk supplies of electricity from the central authority and to distribute and sell electricity economically and efficiently to industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. It vested 505 separate local authority and company owned electricity undertakings in the BEA with effect from 1 April 1948.[1][2] The Electricity Act 1947 is one of a number of acts promulgated by the post-war Labour government to nationalise elements of the UK's industrial infrastructure; other acts include the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946; Transport Act 1947 (railways and long-distance road haulage); Gas Act 1948; and Iron and Steel Act 1949.[3]