the british electricity authority (bea) was established in 1948 with the nationalisation of the great britain's electricity supply industry. it was created by means of the electricity act 1947. the bea took over the operations of over 600 small power companies, municipal authority electricity departments and the central electricity board to form the bea, which comprised a central authority and 14 area boards. the bea was responsible for the generation, distribution and sale of electricity to users. it did not include control of the north of scotland hydro board, which remained independent of the bea. ==area boards== the new area boards were: # east midlands electricity board (emeb) # eastern electricity board (eeb) # london electricity board (leb) # merseyside and north wales electricity board (manweb) # midlands electricity board (meb) # north eastern electricity board (neeb) # north western electricity board (nweb) # south east scotland electricity board # south eastern electricity board (seeboard) # south wales electricity board (swalec) # south west scotland electricity board # south western electricity board (sweb) # southern electricity board (seb) # yorkshire electricity board (yeb) ==formation of the central electricity authority== as a result of the electricity reorganisation (scotland) act 1954, the british electricity authority was replaced on 1 april 1955 by the central electricity authority (cea) for england and wales. at the same time, the two scottish area boards and the associated electricity generation and distribution plant were merged into the south of scotland electricity board (sseb) to form an integrated electricity board responsible for generation, distribution and electricity supply in southern and central scotland. ==see also== * timeline of the uk electricity supply industry * list of pre-nationalisation uk electric power companies * regional electricity companies ==references== ===notes===  ===bibliography=== * , on nationalization 1945-50, pp 132-82 * hannah, leslie (1979). electricity before nationalisation: a study of the development of the electricity supply industry in britain to 1948. london & basingstoke: the macmillan press ltd. isbn 0-333-22086-2. * hannah, leslie (1982). engineers, managers, and politicians: the first fifteen years of nationalised electricity in britain. london & basingstoke: the macmillan press ltd. baltimore: the johns hopkins university press. (johns hopkins up: isbn 0-8018-2862-7) ==external links== * [http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1986/203south_scotland_elec_board.htm uk competitio
1948_establishments_in_the_United_Kingdom Electric_power_in_the_United_Kingdom Electricity_authorities Former_nationalised_industries_of_the_United_Kingdom