Eastern Electricity
Encyclopedia
Eastern Electricity was an electricity supply and distribution utility serving eastern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, including East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 and part of Greater London
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...

. It was renamed Eastern Group under which name it was listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....

 until it was acquired by Hanson plc
Hanson plc
Hanson plc is a British based international building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. Traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index for many years, the company was acquired by a division of German rival Heidelberg Cement in August 2007.-History:Hanson...

 in 1995.

History

It had its origins in the Eastern Electricity Board (EEB) formed in 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947
Electricity Act 1947 (UK)
The Electricity Act 1947 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised the numerous municipal and privately owned electricity generation and supply utilities in Great Britain...

.

In 1990 the assets of the board passed to Eastern Electricity plc, one of the Regional Electricity Companies formed by the Electricity Act 1989. The company was privatised later in the year in a stock market flotation. It subsequently became known as Eastern Group.

In 1995 Hanson plc
Hanson plc
Hanson plc is a British based international building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. Traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index for many years, the company was acquired by a division of German rival Heidelberg Cement in August 2007.-History:Hanson...

 gained control of Eastern Group. Hanson ownership lasted until 1997 when The Energy Group
The Energy Group
The Energy Group plc was a British power generator and distributor. After it was demerged from Hanson plc in 1996 it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it was acquired by Texas Utilities in 1998....

 was demerged from Hanson plc and floated on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

.

Then in 1998 the Energy Group was bought by TXU Europe. Following the acquisition Texas Utilities was renamed TXU, with The Energy Group becoming TXU Energi, part of TXU Europe.

In October 2002 TXU announced it was pulling out of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 due mainly to the collapse of its UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 operations. Powergen purchased TXU's UK businesses for £1.37bn ($2.9bn) later that year.

The Company's distribution rights were sold on to EDF Energy
EDF Energy
EDF Energy is an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom...

, owners of London Electricity
London Electricity
London Electricity can refer to:*The London Electricity Board, public utility company responsible for electricity in the London area prior to privatisation in 1990...

, SWEB Energy
SWEB Energy
SWEB Energy, formerly South Western Electricity Board was a British state-owned Regional Electricity Company operating in South West England which was privatised by the Thatcher government...

 and SEEBOARD
SEEBOARD
SEEBOARD, formerly South Eastern Electricity Board , was a British electricity company. The electrical power industry in the United Kingdom was nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947, when over 600 electric power companies were merged into twelve Area Boards, one of which was the South Eastern...

, three other former Regional Electricity Companies.

In 2006, artist Rory Macbeth painted Sir Thomas More’s entire novel ‘Utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...

’ onto an old Eastern Electricity building on Westwick Street in Norwich.

See also

  • Companies merged into Eastern Electricity Board (EEB)
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