| AdminHistory | In 1889 the Birmingham Corporation applied to the Parliament for a lighting order, to allow it to supply electricity to the city. The order was given, although the right was transferred to the newly formed Birmingham Electric Supply Company in 1890. The Corporation immediately became a customer and a second order was granted in 1891 extending the area of coverage by the company in 1891. In 1893, the company again asked for extended coverage for their supply, to take in the General Hospital on Steelhouse Lane, which prompted the Council's General Purpose Committee to discuss whether the Corporation should take over the Electric Supply Company, under the terms of the Electric Light Acts of 1882 and 1888.
The matter was deferred as electricity was still considered a risky venture, despite the lesson learnt from the acquisition of the water and gas supplies being more expensive as those companies made increasing profits. After the number of its customers doubled between 1895 and 1897, the General Purpose Committee finally recommended the acquisition of the Electric Supply Company. The Council agreed and a bill was prepared. The Birmingham Electric Supply Company was taken over by the Council on the 9 November 1899, after Parliament granted the Birmingham Corporation Act and ratepayers agreed to the Council purchasing it, at a cost of £420,000.
Over the next decade the Corporation continued to extend its area of supply coverage and also began the electrification of the tramway routes. As it gained more customers and business, the profits rose and the Corporation also cut the price of the basic unit of electricity, from just over 4d in 1900 to just over 1d by 1915. Power was supplied from two power stations, in Water Street and Dale End, with a sub-station in Monument Road. In 1900, the Corporation took over the old hospital on Summer Lane and converted the site into a power station that would, with several new sub-stations, suffice for anticipated demand for many years. However, with the enlargement of the City in 1911, a new power station at Nechells and several new sub-stations were built.
Following a report by the Weir Committee, the Electricity Supply Act, 1926, created what was in effect the start of the national grid. Under the charge of the Central Electricity Board the biggest and most efficient power stations throughout the country were linked by overhead cables. Under the Labour Party, as a part of their Nationalisation programme from 1945 to 1951, on the 1 April 1948, the electricity supply was taken into national ownership. |