Power in trust: the environmental history of the Central Electricity Generating Board

The rapid and large-scale development of the electricity supply industry in the United Kingdom since the early years of the century has brought to the fore a large number of environmental issues. affecting the use of town and countryside, rivers and coastal waters, and the protection of amenity, wildlife, and out-door recreational interests. Few industries have experienced so much opposition. As the industry found to its cost, the basic attributes of land, air, and water are never so much cherished as when they are threatened by some novel form of development. Few enterprises have been so resourceful in responding to this public concern. Great importance has been attached to explaining development policies and technical options. Large programmes of research have been carried out. This is the first book to examine in depth the environmental issues that have arisen since the National Grid was first planned in the 1920s. The main focus is on the impact of power stations and the main transmission lines of England and Wales since the nationalization of the industry in 1947. Insights are provided into how issues were regarded at the time, and the manner in which they were tackled within the opportunities and constraints presented by advances in the use of coal, oil, hydro-electricity, and nuclear power. The story ends with the privatization of the industry under the Electricity Act of 1989. A distinctive feature of the book is the considerable use made of the archives of the industry itself, and of the Government departments and other bodies with which the industry had to work. Much of this material has not previously been published. (author)