NORWEB
Encyclopedia
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
, originally the North West Electricity Board, was a British electricity supply and distribution company. It supplied electricity to about 4.7 million industrial, commercial and domestic customers in the North West of England. The Board was originally formed in 1948 as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947. The assets of the Board passed to Norweb plc in 1990, which was privatised in a stock market flotation later in the same year.
Norweb plc was acquired by North West Water plc in 1995 for £1.83 billion. The combined water and electricity companies became United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
(UU). The customer base for the electricity supply arm was subsequently sold off in 2000 to TXU as Norweb Energi. TXU was itself acquired by Powergen in 2002.
UU retained the remainder of the company, including the distribution network in the northwest of England, as Norweb Distribution. In 2001 Norweb was renamed United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
Electricity. The company was the licensed Distribution Network Operator
Distribution Network Operator
Distribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
for the north west England until its sale in December 2007 to North West Electricity Networks, a joint venture between Colonial First State
Colonial First State
Colonial First State was established in 1988 and is now one of Australia's leading wealth management groups, with more than A$90 billion under management. It is owned by the Commonwealth Bank Group.- Product range :...
, which is part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Fiji, Asia, USA and the United Kingdom. Commonwealth Bank provides a variety of financial services including retail, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance,...
, and US investment bank--JP Morgan. Electricity North West Limited became the licensed Distribution Network Operator
Distribution Network Operator
Distribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
for the north west of England as a consequence of the sale.
Norweb in Popular Culture
In the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
situation comedy Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
, the lead character Lister was fooled into believing that the "Norweb Federation" were chasing him with a final demand for 180 billion pounds as he left his bathroom light on for three million years.
See also
- Companies merged into North Western Electricity Board (NWEB)