Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Electric Power Company

The Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Electric Power Company was an electricity generating and supply organisation that operated in the West Midlands and South Wales. It was established in 1903 and was dissolved as a consequence of the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948.
History.
The Shropshire and Worcestershire Electric Power Company was established in 1903 under the terms of the "Shropshire and Worcestershire Electric Power Act 1903". Further Acts were obtained in 1905, 1906, 1914, 1916, 1918 and 1923. The name was changed to include Staffordshire in 1905. The company's aim was to supply electrical energy to authorised undertakings and to others requiring a supply of power. Its area of supply included Shropshire, Worcestershire and part of Staffordshire. This was later extended by acquisitions to include Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.
The company intended to build its own generating stations but initially purchased the existing stations of smaller electricity undertakings. These included the following (with the original owner, construction and purchase dates):
Stourport power station.
During the First World War the two major undertakings in the Midlands, the Shropshire Company and the Birmingham Corporation, proposed to build two large power stations to meet their joint needs. These would be the 30 MW Netchells station and the 45 MW Stourport power station. However, the proposal failed on the question of financing. The Shropshire Company eventually built Stourport power station which was commissioned in 1927. This enabled the smaller, less efficient, stations at Dudley, Kidderminster and Redditch to be closed.
Developments in the 1930s.
The Shropshire Company became part of the Edmundsons Electricity Corporation Limited which by 1931 was itself part of the Greater London and Counties Trust.
The Shropshire Company continued to purchase, or obtain a controlling interest in, further electricity undertakings and closed the power stations as a bulk supply was available from its network. These included the smaller power stations at:
In addition to the above towns the company supplied electricity to Bewdley, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Evesham, Halesowen and Oldbury.
In 1937 the Company purchased a majority shareholding in the South Wales Electric Power Company.
Nationalisation.
The Shropshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire Electric Power Company was abolished on 31 March 1948 under the terms of the Electricity Act 1947 which nationalised the British electricity supply industry. The company's power stations and electricity transmission systems were vested in the British Electricity Authority. The local distribution systems and the electricity sales functions were vested in the Midlands Electricity Board (MEB).
Key people.
The Chairmen of the company included:
The directors of the company in 1921 were:
The registered office was at 88 Kingsway, London.
Generating plant.
Technical details of the Shropshire Company's power stations, and later constituent power stations, were as follows:
By 1946 the Shropshire Company operated only Stourport A power station. The details for 1946 were:
Following nationalisation the British Electricity Authority built Stourport B station (1950–54).This had a generating capacity of 120 MW.
Operations.
The growth of the Shropshire Company's business is shown in the general trend of an increase in the amount of electricity sold and the connected load.
The combined electricity output from Dudley, Kidderminster and Smethwick power stations was used for the following purposes:
The amount of electricity generated and the revenue from sales in 1923 were as shown:
See also.
List of pre-nationalisation UK electric power companies
Timeline of the UK electricity supply industry
List of power stations in England