Southern Electric


Southern Electric plc was a public limited energy company in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998, when it merged with Scottish Hydro-Electric plc to form Scottish and Southern Energy plc. Since then, its "Southern Electric" name and logo have continued to be used by SSE as a brand name for retail distribution of gas and electricity in the south of England.
The company had its origins in the southern England region of the British nationalised electricity industry. Created in 1948 as the Southern Electricity Board, in 1990 it was privatised by being floated on the London Stock Exchange.

History

The company originated as the Southern Electricity Board, created in 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947. The board's assets passed to Southern Electric plc in 1990, one of the fourteen public electricity suppliers, and was privatised in the same year. In 1998 the company merged with Scottish Hydro-Electric plc and became part of Scottish and Southern Energy.

Southern Electricity Board

The key people on the Board were: Chairman Henry Nimmo, Chairman R.R.B. Brown, Deputy Chairman W.B. Poulter, Full time member A. W. Bunch.
The total number of customers supplied by the board was:
Year1948/91960/11965/61970/11975/61978/91980/11985/61987/81988/9
No. of Customers, 1000s876142916161829199320952150231223862424

The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by the Southern Electricity Board over its operational life was:

Operations

The Southern Electric name continued to be used as a brand name by SSE plc for supplying gas and electricity in England and by Southern Electric Power Distribution PLC the Distribution Network Operator in the south of England, although it has now mainly been phased out in favour of the SSE brand.
In April 2013 the UK electricity market regulator OFGEM fined Southern Electric £10.5 million for breaches of conduct in relation to mis-selling, from the top of the business down