Electrical Supply P.E.P. (Political and Economic Planning) has recently issued
a valuable report on the Supply of Electricity in Great Britain. In three important respects it differs from the recommendations made by the MacGowan Committee earlier this year. P.E.P. rejects the impli- cation made by the Committee that, in electrical distri- bution, "greater efficiency necessarily goes with greater size." This is a point of fact which requires the closest examination, especially from the consumer's point of view, because many of the smaller undertakings are in the hands of public authorities. The MacGowan Com- mittee recommended handing over small undertakings to the larger ones, which, as P.E.P. points out, are probably power companies privately owned which easily escape public control. Lastly, P.E.P. considers that the fundamental task of the industry—to make easily avail- able cheap electricity to as many potential consumers as possible—should be put in the hands of an Elcctrical Development Board, and not of the Electricity Commis- sion, which it regards as incapacitated for the task by its existing functions.
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