Distribution research at ECRC

The electricity-supply industry supports four research laboratories situated at Leatherhead, Berkeley, Marchwood and Capenhurst. This last location is that of The Electricity Council Research Centre. It is devoted to the problems of the area electricity boards, and is now approaching the end of its first decade of operations. Most of the resources at ECRC are directed towards the wise use of electricity, i.e. utilisation research. However, about one-quarter of the resources are applied to problems in the distribution of electricity and it is with this one-quarter that the following article is concerned. The research centre is not an isolated. `ivory tower¿ institution, but is one, particularly on the distribution side, with strong Interactive links with the area electricity boards, so that many of the results of successful research are applied directly by the co-operating board without a great deal of external publicity