Eastern Electricity

Eastern Electricity plc

Company type	Public limited company
Industry	Electricity supply and distribution
Founded	1948
Defunct	1995
Fate	Acquired by Hanson plc
Headquarters	Eastern England (offices in Norwich, Ipswich, Wherstead Park, Rayleigh, Enfield, Bedford, and Bury St Edmunds) , England, United Kingdom
Area served	Eastern England (East Anglia and parts of Greater London)
Products	Electricity supply and distribution
Parent	Hanson plc (from 1995)

Eastern Electricity plc operated as a utility responsible for electricity supply and distribution throughout Eastern England, encompassing East Anglia and sections of Greater London. The company was rebranded as Eastern Group and subsequently listed on the London Stock Exchange, becoming part of the FTSE 100 Index. It was later acquired by Hanson plc in 1995 and then sold to Texas Utilities in 1998.

Eastern Electricity Board

The Eastern Electricity Board (EEB) was formed in 1948 following the nationalisation of the electricity sector mandated by the Electricity Act 1947. Its responsibilities included procuring electricity from generators—primarily the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958 onward—and overseeing its distribution and retail to consumers.

Prominent members of the board included Chairman H. D. B. Wood (1964, 1967), Deputy Chairman C. C. Hill (1964, 1967), alongside full-time members P. Sydney (1964) and J. S. Mills (1967).

The customer base under EEB expanded consistently, growing from 1.18 million in 1948/49 to nearly 2.91 million by 1988/89:

Customer numbers served by Eastern Electricity Board, 1949–1989

Year	1948/49	1960/61	1965/66	1970/71	1975/76	1978/79	1980/81	1985/86	1987/88	1988/89
Customers (thousands)	1,180	1,835	2,041	2,244	2,430	2,561	2,623	2,782	2,864	2,905

Throughout its tenure, electricity consumption increased markedly, with sales surpassing 21,671 GWh by the end of the 1980s:

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Eastern Electricity

In the year 1990, ownership of the board's assets transitioned to Eastern Electricity plc, one of the regional electricity companies established under the Electricity Act 1989. That same year, it underwent privatisation through a public stock offering as part of the UK Government’s initiative to divest state-owned utilities such as British Telecom, British Gas, and various regional water providers. The entity adopted the name Eastern Group and maintained offices across eastern England in cities including Norwich, Ipswich, Wherstead Park, Rayleigh, Enfield, Bedford, and Bury St Edmunds. Its former electrical retail outlets were consolidated with those from the former Midlands Electricity and Southern Electric boards into the retailer known as Powerhouse. Additionally, Eastern held a minority shareholding of 12.5% in National Power.

The Energy Group

The origins of The Energy Group trace back to 1990 when Hanson plc acquired the American coal enterprise Peabody Energy. In 1995, Hanson expanded its portfolio by purchasing Eastern Group for £2.5 billion, gaining full control over the electrical retail chain Powerhouse, which was subsequently sold as a running business. The following year, 1996, saw further growth with the acquisition of 6,000 megawatts of power generation capacity from National Power and Powergen, including a significant $2.5 billion deal for 4,000 megawatts from National Power, aligning with initiatives to enhance competition within the market.

Eastern Natural Gas, a subsidiary within The Energy Group, encountered nearly £40 million in losses after aggressively increasing its market share following deregulation. Hanson maintained ownership until 1997 when The Energy Group was spun off and listed independently on the London Stock Exchange. Additionally, the company ventured into telecommunications through a collaboration with Esprit Telecom.

In 1997, The Energy Group became the target of a $9.6 billion takeover bid by US energy company PacifiCorp, prompting an investigation by the Monopolies & Merger Commission. This bid expired amid rivalry from Texas Utilities and Nomura Holdings; Nomura withdrew its interest, and PacifiCorp eventually retracted before final sealed bids were submitted. Ultimately, Texas Utilities succeeded in acquiring The Energy Group for $10 billion. Following this acquisition, Texas Utilities divested Peabody to Lehman Merchant Banking Partners for $2.3 billion as part of the transaction.

TXU Europe

Post-acquisition, Texas Utilities rebranded itself as TXU Corporation, while The Energy Group was renamed TXU Europe. Part of the acquisition financing debt was assigned to the UK-based operations. In 1998, TXU Europe secured gas fields located in the southern North Sea. That same year in July, its Telecom division developed technology enabling telecommunications over power lines and extended its network by 550 km by October. By 1999, revenue increased by 13% reaching £3.74 billion, with profits surging 59% to £212.6 million. The Telecom segment was sold to NTL in January 1999, coinciding with additional acquisitions of stakes in North Sea gas fields. The retail division underwent rebranding from Eastern Electricity and Eastern Natural Gas to Eastern Energy in 1999, concentrating retail operations in Ipswich, Bedford, and Rayleigh. The company also acquired Combined Heat & Power plants from BG Group plc in the UK and raised its ownership in Spanish electricity firm Hidroelectrica from 5% in 1999 to nearly 20% by 2000. Its metering business was disposed of in October 1999.

In 2000, TXU Europe purchased NORWEB’s retail arm from United Utilities; these combined retail operations were unified under the TXU Energi brand in August 2001. A seven-year agreement was established with customer service provider Vertex to manage domestic retail clients. In July 2000, TXU Europe acquired a majority (51%) stake in German energy company Stadtwerke Kiel for $215 million. A subsequent formal cash offer for remaining shares in Hidroelectrica was withdrawn.

That year also saw the merger of TXU Europe’s distribution rights with EDF Energy’s London Electricity and South Eastern Electricity Board operations to create 24seven Utility Services; this entity was later sold outright to EDF for £560 million plus £740 million in debt during 2001. Subsequently, the Eastern and London distribution networks were divested to UK Power Networks. In November 2001, TXU Europe sold West Burton power stations to London Electricity Group for £366 million and relinquished its shares in Hidroelectrica.

TXU Energi took on sponsorship of Ipswich Town F.C in 2001. During this period, TXU divested Rugeley power stations to International Power for £200 million and transferred ownership of Peterborough and King’s Lynn CCGT power stations to Centrica. Collaborations were formed with Farm Energy, ABB, Powergen, and Royal Dutch Shell on developing the London Array offshore wind farm.

In March 2002, TXU acquired the UK retail business of Amerada Hess, integrating it into TXU Energi’s operations. Plans were unveiled to reconstruct its Ipswich headquarters at Russell House. In May 2002, TXU Europe purchased a controlling interest (74.9%) in German energy provider Braunschweiger Versorgungs AG (BS Energy) for €420 million. That summer, TXU Energi became the official sponsor of the Rugby League Challenge Cup.

However, by October 2002 TXU announced its exit from European markets to safeguard its US assets after European wholesale prices declined alongside credit rating downgrades linked to acquisition-related debt from 1998. Later that year, Powergen acquired TXU’s UK retail businesses for £1.37 billion ($2.9 billion) following a contested takeover bid involving SSE plc. Subsequently, E.ON completed its acquisition of Powergen in January 2002.

As a consequence of these events, former shareholders suffered losses amounting to £19 million due to loan notes accepted instead of cash during Texas Utilities’ takeover; these notes were unsecured instruments.

In Media

In 2006, artist Rory Macbeth transformed an old Eastern Electricity building on Westwick Street in Norwich by painting the complete text of Sir Thomas More’s novel Utopia onto its facade.

See also

• Companies incorporated into Eastern Electricity Board (EEB)