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8
Electric
Lighting.
In August, 1882, an Act was passed intituled, "An Act to
facilitate and regulate the supply of Electricity for Lighting and
other purposes in Great Britain and Ireland." It empowers the
Board of Trade to grant Licenses to local authorities, or to any
Company or person with the consent of the local authority, to
supply Electricity for public or private purposes. It also empowers
the Board of Trade to grant Provisional Orders to local authorities,
or to any Company or person for the like purposes without the
consent of the local authority, but requires that the Orders shall
be submitted to Parliament for confirmation. A License may be
for any period not exceeding seven years, and is renewable on the
expiration of that period, with the consent of the local authority,
at the option of the Board of Trade. A Provisional Order may be
for a term not exceeding twenty-one years. In the event of a
Company obtaining a Provisional Order, the local authority may,
within six months after the expiration of twenty-one years, or other
shorter period named in the Order, to be computed from the date of
the passing of an Act of Parliament confirming the same, by notice
in writing require the Company to sell to them their undertaking
upon terms of paying the fair market value of all lands, buildings,
plant, &c. used in connection therewith. Eor the Metropolis the
Vestries and District Board are constituted local authorities within
the meaning of the Act.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Act referred to, applications
were received in September last from two Companies, namely, the
Metropolitan (Brush) Electric Light and Power Company, Limited,
and the Jablochkoff Electric Light and Power Company, Limited,
for the consent of this Board to their applying to the Board of
Trade for a License for the supply of Electricity within this district;
and notices were afterwards received from the same two Companies
of their intention to apply to the Board of Trade for a Provisional
Order. Five other notices were also received from other Companies
and persons of a similar character. Of these one only, that of the
Brush Company, was proceeded with; the others were abandoned.
On receipt of the various applications and notices the matter was
referred to the Paving and General Purposes Committee of this
Board; who, after very careful consideration and inquiry, reported