Yorkshire Electricity

Former English electricity distribution utility

Yorkshire Electricity

Industry| Electricity
Founded| 1948
Defunct| 1997
Fate| Acquired
Successor| American Electric Power
Headquarters| Leeds, England, United Kingdom

Yorkshire Electricity was an electricity distribution utility in England, serving much of Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

## History

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Formed as the Yorkshire Electricity Board in 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947. The establishment of the company involved the amalgamation of 50 private and local authority power companies. The Yorkshire Electricity Board took over Scarcroft Lodge in north Leeds as its headquarters.[1]

### Nationalised industry

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The Yorkshire Electricity Board was responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator (the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958) and its distribution and sale of electricity to customers. The key people on the board were chairman Arthur Bond (1964, 1967), deputy chairman R. H. M. Barkham (1964, 1967), and full-time member J. S. Yates (1964, 1967).[2]

The total number of customers supplied by the board was:[3][4]

Yorkshire Electricity Board customers, 1949–89  Year  | 1948/9  | 1960/1  | 1965/6  | 1970/1  | 1975/6  | 1978/9  | 1980/1  | 1985/6  | 1987/8  | 1988/9

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No. of customers, 1000s  | 1084  | 1539  | 1647  | 1737  | 1815  | 1851  | 1853  | 1903  | 1929  | 1946

The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by Yorkshire Electricity Board was:

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### Post privatisation

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Yorkshire Electricity Board was privatised in 1990 as the Yorkshire Electricity Group plc.

In June 1993, Homepower stores were opened across the Yorkshire region.[5] Homepower was the retail arm of the company which was a joint venture with East Midlands Electricity.[6] At its peak, Homepower employed 900 people and had 130 stores.[7] This part of the company was sold off in 1996.

In 1997 the company was acquired by American Electric Power (AEP) and Public Service Company of Colorado (part of Xcel Energy) in a deal worth £1.5 billion.[8] In 2001 Innogy plc bought 94.75% of the company in a deal worth £1.8 billion.[9] The company was subsequently split into two entities, one a supply company, the other a distribution utility. The distribution company (Yorkshire Electricity Distribution Limited) was disposed of to CE Electric UK in 2001 in exchange for the supply business of Northern Electric. Northern Powergrid is now the licensed distribution network operator for the Yorkshire region. In 2002, the company divested itself of its Leeds Headquarters as most staff and processes had been transferred to the Midlands headquarters of npower by that time.[1]

Innogy was itself taken over by RWE. The supply company now trades as npower.

## See also

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* Companies merged into Yorkshire Electricity Board (YEB)
* npower (UK)

## References

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1. ^ a b Williamson, Howard (2 May 2002). "YE pull plug on Scarcroft". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
2. ^ Electricity Council publicity brochure 1964 and 1967
3. ^ Electricity Council (1980). Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics 1979. London: Electricity Council. pp. 58 63. ISBN 0851880762.
4. ^ Electricity Council (1990). Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics 1989. London: Electricity Council. pp. 51 56. ISBN 085188122X.
5. ^ "Electrical stores run out of juice". marketingweek.com. Marketing Week. 17 February 1995. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
6. ^ Hinchcliffe, David (11 June 1996). "Homepower (Closure)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 9 February 2017.
7. ^ Hotten, Russel (2 July 1994). "Yorkshire Electricity to cut 1,000 jobs: Final redundancy figure could". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
8. ^ Sabbagh, Dan (28 February 2001). "Innogy buys Yorkshire Electricity". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
9. ^ "NPower firm buys Yorkshire Power". BBC News. 27 February 2001. Retrieved 9 February 2017.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yorkshire Electricity.

* Documents and clippings about Yorkshire Electricity in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

* v
* t
* e

Former area electricity boards from 1948

1. North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
2. South West Scotland Electricity Board
3. South East Scotland Electricity Board (these two merged in 1955 to form the South of Scotland Electricity Board)
4. North Western Electricity Board
5. North Eastern Electricity Board
6. Yorkshire Electricity Board
7. Merseyside & North Wales Electricity Board
8. East Midlands Electricity Board
9. South Wales Electricity Board
10. Midlands Electricity Board
11. Eastern Electricity Board
12. South Western Electricity Board
13. Southern Electricity Board
14. London Electricity Board
15. South Eastern Electricity Board

* v
* t
* e

Electricity generation in Yorkshire and the Humber

Power stations|

| Biomass|

| Active|

* Blackburn Meadows
* Drax (co-fires, and full biomass)
* Ferrybridge Multifuel (co-fires)
* Glanford
* Markham Grange
* Templeborough

|

Proposed/future|

* Brigg
* Stallingborough

Closed|

* ARBRE (Eggborough)
* Eggborough (co-fired)

Coal|

| Closed|

* Blackburn Meadows
* Bradford
* Doncaster
* Drax
* Eggborough
* Elland
* Ferrybridge A, B & C
* Foss Island
* Huddersfield
* Keadby
* Kirkstall
* Mexborough
* Monckton Coke Works
* Neepsend
* Rotherham
* Sculcoates
* Skelton Grange
* Thornhill
* Thorpe Marsh
* Wakefield

|

Proposed|

* White Rose

Gas|

| Active|

* A.H. Marks
* Castleford
* Conoco Phillips
* East Knapton
* Glanford Brigg
* Humber Energy CHP
* Immingham
* Keadby (mothballed)
* Killingholme A
* Killingholme B
* Salt End
* South Humber Bank
* Thornhill

|

Hydro|

| Active|

* Brotherton
* Burley
* Kirkthorpe
* Linton Falls
* Linton Lock
* River Bain
* Ruswarp
* Settle
* Thrybergh

|

Proposed/future|

Naburn

Incinerators
/waste|

| Active|

* Allerton Park
* Kirklees
* Newlincs
* Sheffield
* Wheldale
* Ferrybridge Multi-fuel

|

Closed|

* Foss Island

Wind|

| Active|

* Fraisthorpe
* Hook Moor
* Humber Gateway
* Keadby
* Knabs Ridge
* Lissett
* Royd Moor
* Out Newton
* Ovenden Moor
* Rusholme
* Teesside
* Westermost Rough

|

Proposed/future|

* Dogger Bank
* Hornsea
* Sober Hill

Organisations|

* Drax Group
* Pre-nationalisation electric power companies
* Yorkshire Electricity

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

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