SP Manweb


SP Manweb is the regional electricity distribution network operator for Merseyside, north Wales and parts of Cheshire. It is now part of SP Energy Networks, itself a subsidiary of the Spanish energy company Iberdrola.

Nationalised industry

The company was originally created in 1947 as the nationalised Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board in the Electricity Act 1947. It was privatised in 1990, when it became become MANWEB plc. MANWEB was responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator and the distribution and sale of electricity to customers.
The total number of customers supplied by the board was:
Year1948/91960/11965/61970/11975/61978/91980/11985/61987/81988/9
No. of customers, 1,000s6329461,0281,0991,1751,2201,2461,3081,2761,285

The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by MANWEB over its operational life was as follows:

Existing electricity suppliers taken over at nationalisation

The Electricity (Allocation of Undertakings to Area Boards) Order 1948 transferred the electricity business of the following local authorities and private companies to the new board effective 31 March 1948.

Local authorities

Private companies

Post privatisation

The company was purchased by Scottish Power in 1996 and subsequently become SP Manweb plc. The name Manweb continued to be used alongside the Scottish Power logo on home and retail publications until 2007, when it was replaced by ScottishPower. However, the Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales electricity distributor continues as SP Manweb plc, which is managed, along with the Scottish network operators SP Distribution plc and SP Transmission plc, as SP Energy Networks. A fourth company, SP Power Systems Ltd, maintains the distribution networks for each of these companies.