NORWEB

Norweb PLC, 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 (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 Electricity. The company was the licensed Distribution Network Operator for the north west England until its sale in December 2007 to North West Electricity Networks, a joint venture between Colonial First State, which is part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and US investment bank--JP Morgan. Electricity North West Limited became the licensed Distribution Network Operator for the north west of England as a consequence of the sale.

Norweb in Popular Culture

In the BBC situation comedy Red Dwarf, 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)