CENTRAL ELECTRICITY BOARD. In 1925 a com mittee, under Lord Weir, was appointed by the British Govern ment to review the national problem of the supply of electrical energy and to report on future policy. Subsequently a bill, framed on the main lines of the committee's recommendations, was passed into law as the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1926. The Central Board was constituted under that Act. It is a body corpo rate, and consists of eight members, appointed by the Minister of Transport. Briefly stated, its functions are to organize and con trol the generation of electricity throughout the whole of Great Britain. With that object in view, schemes are to be prepared by the electricity commissioners under the Act and transmitted to the Board for adoption, after any modifications found to be expedient as a result of representations by interested parties.
The intention is ultimately to link up electrically the whole of Great Britain, following which the generation of electricity, now effected at a multiplicity of comparatively small stations, will be at a limited number of "selected" stations, each of large capacity and favourably situated for economical production. Such stations will usually be operated by their owners on behalf of the Board and in accordance with the Board's directions. They will be inter connected with one another and with points of supply by high tension transmission lines erected or acquired and maintained by the Board, who will thus control the whole of the generation in bulk, as well as its transmission to the local systems of supply to individual consumers. To render this uniformly possible it is contemplated that the various frequencies of supply existing at the passing of the Act will be standardised to a frequency of 5o cycles per second.
It will thus be seen that the Board's main task is to cheapen production as well as to make electrical energy more generally accessible. The investigations of the committee referred to had shown that although Great Britain is favourably placed as a potential producer and distributor of cheap electrical energy, the rate of consumption per head of the population was below that of other leading nations. For the purpose of providing working capital, and for constructing and acquiring transmission lines and permanent works generally, the Board has power to issue stock up to a maximum of £33,500,000, or, by special order, in excess of that amount. The Board commenced to function in March, 1927. On July I, 1927, the first scheme was adopted, embracing an area covering about 4,980 square miles in central Scotland. A second scheme, embracing the south-east area of England, and covering about 8,828 square miles, was adopted in Feb. 1928. The Board's first chairman was Sir Andrew R. Duncan. (See ELECTRICAL POWER TRANSMISSION.)