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Electrifying the City: Power and Profit at the City of London Electric Lighting Company Limited

The City of London Electric Lighting Company Limited generated and supplied electricity for the City of London from 1891 to 1948. Such early British electricity undertakings have been seen as inefficient and small-scale, with little opportunity or incentive for expansion. This article challenges that view and argues that the City Company was profitable and efficient: it encouraged electricity demand and actively expanded its operations. An analysis of operating data demonstrates the Company was financially profitable and attracted new consumers and investors; high electricity usage reflected the population density and relative prosperity of the City of London. Inter-war legislation encouraged co-operation between, and integration of, electricity undertakings but ultimately the Company — despite objections — was abolished under nationalisation of the industry in 1948. This article calls for further analysis of individual electricity undertakings to demonstrate how they reflected and affected their supply area and may further challenge orthodoxies about the backwardness of the British electricity industry.