1. Line Rental Scheme 1950 to 13th April 1953

In the absence of National guidelines, S.W.E.B. instigated Line Rental as an interim measure on new rural consumers requiring an annual payment in addition to consumption payments sufficient to raise the estimated revenue up to 20% annually of the capital expenditure involved in the initial provision of the supply.

e.g. In 1950/51

500farms and 1,200 rural properties made agreements whereby a farm paid 7/6d (37p) per week, other rural properties averaged 1/9d (9p) per week and cottages 8d (3p) per week.

e.g. In 1951/52

5,000 line rental agreements were concluded with farms averaging, as above, rural properties 2/- (10p) and cottages 9d (4p) per week.

2. Rural Development Contributions 14th April

1953 onwards

The line rental scheme was dropped in favour of R.D. contributions. These averaged 10/6d (52p) per week for farms, 2/4d (12p) per week for a medium sized house, 1/6d (7p) per week for a small cottage.

These amounts ceased to be payable after 7 years and could be discharged on payment of a lump sum. In 1956/57 83% of farms participated in the R.D. contribution scheme.

Revised terms were introduced on 1-4-1958 requiring new consumers to pay the assessed quarterly contribution over 10 years instead of over 7 years as previous.

The R.D. contribution ranged from less than £50 to £450 depending on the size of the farm or dwelling. Payments could be spread over 10 years and most farms were eligible for a Government grant.

3. The Electricity Act of 1957, Section 13

This changed the financial structure by requiring each Board to now:- "so perform their functions as to secure that the revenues of the Board are not less than sufficient to meet the outgoings of the Board properly chargeable to revenue account taking one year with another".

This negated the previous clause when the finances of the industry as a whole could be combined to make a profit.

4. After 1st April 1965

85% of farm electrification had been achieved. The then present contribution system continued where the average connection cost did not exceed £400. When this figure was exceeded, a supplementary contribution was required to equal the excess. If the cost exceeded £700 there was a further supplementary charge by way of a contribution to operating costs of 10% per annum of the excess for ten years. For rural premises, other than farms, supplementary charges were required when connection costs exceeded £150 and £300 respectively.

5. Farms

The S.W.E.B. report for 1957/8 noted that many farms were not even using the initial blocks of higher priced units with which the Board sought to recover some part of the high capital and fixed costs incurred. Accordingly a new Tariff structure was to be formulated to ensure those farms only using a few units pay a fair contribution to the fixed costs of providing and maintaining a supply.

It was also stated that S.W.E.B. has more farms in its area than any other Board, except one. The 1958/9 report stated that a new farm tariff had been published in July 1958 as 1/5 of farms supplied had not used 100 units in the preceding winter quarter.

Therefore a new quarterly minimum farm charge of £3-5-0d (£3.25p) was introduced with all units costing 1 1/8d (approximately 1/2p).

In 1952/53 the average farm revenue was £22

In 1959/60 the average farm revenue was £44

In 1960/61 the average farm revenue was £47

In 1961/62 the average farm revenue was £53

In 1962/63 the average farm revenue was £58

6. Private Generators

The 1967/8 Report contained a suggestion by the Ministry of Power that, where connection costs run into £000s, it would be cheaper to install a generator costing less than £500. The Consultative

Committee rejected this idea totally, as this was what many rural premises already had, being totally inadequate for other than lighting and the barest domestic requirements.