In 1957, the government reorganised the electricity supply industry. The Electricity Act of that year replaced the Central Electricity Authority with two new statutory bodies: the Electricity Council and the Central Electricity Generating Board. The government's aim was to decentralise the industry. The Electricity Council brought together representatives of the Central Electricity Generating Board, the Area Boards and its own officers to formulate the general policy of the supply industry in England and Wales. The Council reported to the Secretary of State for Energy. Although the Electricity Council was the central umbrella authority of the industry, it did not have statutory powers. The Council was formally wound up by The Electricity Council (Dissolution) Order 2001.

During the First World War, the demand for industrial electricity increased. This tested the capacity of existing suppliers and exposed their lack of co-ordination. In 1919, the government appointed Electricity Commissioners to encourage undertakings to adopt common technical standards and co-ordinate production on a regional basis. From the late 1920s, the Commission worked with the Central Electricity Board to develop the National Grid (see below). The Commission was limited because it had no compulsory powers, but its Annual Returns and Returns of Engineering and Finance provide detailed information about the extent and structure of the industry.

The first effective co-ordination of the electricity supply industry came in 1926 with the Electricity (Supply) Act, by which the government established the Central Electricity Board. The Board was a public corporation and built and ran the National Grid of main transmission lines. Electricity generated at selected power stations could be supplied wholesale over these transmission lines to local distributors for sale to customers. Individual undertakings continued to own and operate the power stations and sold their electricity to the Central Electricity Board. By 1934, the National Grid system was serving most parts of Britain. A Government White Paper issued in 1937 proposed that the Electricity Commissioners should prepare schemes for the integration of distribution undertakings into larger groups, but the Second World War prevented legislation.

In 1947, as part of the programme of post war reconstruction through public ownership, the government nationalised the electricity industry of England, Wales and Scotland. The Minister of Fuel and Power was responsible for the industry. The British Electricity Authority was formed to run the power stations and National Grid and to co-ordinate the work of the new Area Electricity Boards which took over the five hundred and sixty existing electricity undertakings. The Area Boards were responsible for the distribution and sale of electricity to customers. In addition, they undertook contracting work and the sale of electrical appliances. There were twelve boards in England and Wales and two in southern Scotland. On the 1st April 1955 the Authority was replaced with the Central Electricity Authority because of the introduction of the Electricity Reoragnisation (Scotland) Act 1954. The Authority looked after interests in England and Wales while the South of Scotland Electricity Board was formed to look after generation, distribution and electricity supply in Southern and Central Scotland.

Governing body which ran the electricity supply industry, it replaced the British Electricity Authority (BEA) which had been established under the Electricity Act, 1947. The authority was reorganised because of the Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act, 1954. This saw two of the Authority’s undertakings in Scotland merged into a new public body, the South of Scotland Electricity Board. At the same time the British Electricity Authority titled was changed to the Central Electricity Authority. The Authority oversaw 12 Area Boards instead of the previous 14 and a reduction from 13 to 11 in the number of its Generating Divisions. The Area Boards consisted of the following regions; 1) London 2) South Eastern 3) Southern 4) South Western 5) Eastern 6) East Midlands 7) Midlands 8) South Wales 9) Merseyside and N. Wales 10) Yorkshire 11) North Eastern 12) North Western The Generating Divisions corresponded to those of the Area Boards except for the North West, Merseyside and N. Wales and the South Western and South Wales Division which were extended.