The Electricity Commissioners were a department of the United Kingdom government's Ministry of Transport

Department for Transport

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

, and attempted to regulate the electricity supply industry in its early days.

In 1919, the UK government was planning the reconstruction of the nation's industries after the First World War. The Board of Trade

Board of Trade

The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

 set up the Electric Power Supply Committee, chaired by Sir Archibald Williamson, which proposed the effective nationalisation of the industry. Parliament rejected this solution but enacted the committee's recommendations in a weaker form, including the setting up of an Electricity Commission and a number of Joint Electricity Authorities:

• London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority
• North West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority
• West Joint Electricity Authority
• West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority
• etc.

The Commission continued to exist for some years after nationalisation, and finally closed in 1953.