Electricity supply in the City of Westminster

Abstract

This is a record of some of the early developments in public electricity supply in the City of Westminster and describes how the seven undertakings mainly concerned established themselves. The paper recalls the personal initiative and drive shown by Ferranti and Crompton in designing and constructing power stations and distribution systems using entirely different concepts to achieve the same result. Although early power stations were described as ‘central stations’, this was to distinguish them from small and sometimes mobile plants which were set up to supply arc-lighting installations. The birth of transmission systems leading to the establishment of the Grid is foreshadowed by the activities of the Charing Cross Company in building a power station at Bow, 4 miles from the City, to supply high-voltage a.c. to the City and West End. Likewise, the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation joined forces with the St. James and Pall Mall Company to form the Central Electric Supply Company, and the Kensington and Knightsbridge Company and the Notting Hill Company built a power station at Shepherds Bush to meet their joint needs. Almost all that remains of the past is innumerable manhole covers, many of which display the name of their former undertaking.