Westminster Electric Supply Co
Westminster Electric Supply Corporation.
1888 Westminster Electric Supply Corporation Ltd was incorporated
1889 an order was obtained to supply electricity to St. George, Hanover Square and part of the joint parish of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster. The area of supply was later extended. A small generating station was commissioned at Dacre Street.
1890 the Corporation bought out the City of Westminster Electrical Syndicate, a small company which supplied the area of Victoria Street through two small generating stations.
1890 and 1891: three generating stations were commissioned at Millbank St, Westminster, Eccleston Place SW and Davies St, W.
1891 Was distributing electricity to consumers using the d.c. system with accumulators at 200V from 3 generating stations in Millbank St, Westminster, Eccleston Place SW and Davies St, W[1]
1892 Description and illustrations of the system, with the focus on Eccleston Place Power Station.[2]
1897 St. James's and Pall Mall Electric Light Co and Westminster Electric Supply Co formed the Central Electric Supply Co[3]
Between 1899 and 1902 the company changed the system of direct-current steam-generation at its 3 stations to motor-generator operation.[4]
c.1903 An agreement was made between St James' and Pall Mall Electric Lighting Co and the Westminster Company to establish a generating station at Grove Road, Saint John's Wood to generate jointly for both companies under the name of the Central Electric Supply Co. This station was increasingly used and development of the smaller stations ceased.[5]
1909 One of 5 companies in London that the London County Council proposed to acquire[6]
1910 the Millbank site was acquired by London County Council when the River Thames river bank was improved. The Millbank Street Power Station was closed and demolished; replacement capacity was built at a site in Horseferry Road
Competition from the London Electric Supply Corporation was disrupted when a major fire to its generator in Grosvenor Galleries, Bond Street, disrupted its supplies. The Westminster Company obtained a number of the London Company's consumers in the Mayfair area. In 1910 plans were made for the mutual development of the two companies, but disputes led to a law suit which was heard in the House of Lords.
1913 Six London companies placed a large advert about potential uses of electricity in the home and office - in the drawing room, in the dining room, in the bedroom, for cooking and for vacuum cleaning[7]
1920 One of 9 London electricity supply companies who formed London Electricity Joint Committee (1920) in opposition to the schemes proposed by the Electricity Commissioners for London
1923 The Horseferry Rd, Westminster generation station and main transmission lines were acquired by London Electricity Joint Committee[8]
1931 the London Company gave up its rights arising from the 1910 plans; customers were transferred to the Westminster Company.
1938 The Westminster Company was one of the six companies which formed Central London Electricity Ltd
See Also
Sources of Information
- [2] National archives