The Weak Link in Electricity Supply The rapid increase in
the use of electricity in this country may be judged by the fact that its generation has increased from 8,234 million units in 1927 to 18,554 million in 1933. That improvement may be attributed mainly to the concentration of power in selected stations and the bulk transmission of current to distributors over the grid system by the Central Electricity Board. The weak link in the chain is in local distribution. There are no fewer than 660 undertakings which purchase current from the Board ; and consumers have strong grounds for complaint when they find, for example, that in one district in London the price per unit is double what it is in an adjoining district. The ultimate solution will probably be legislation empowering the Board to take over all the distributing functions now performed by local authorities or private companies. In the meantime it is stated that the Electricity Com- mission is seeing what can be done by promoting volun- tary amalgamations among the undertakings. If this does not succeed, compulsion may have to be applied.
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