Martin Angove wrote in message ...

You need to find out who the actual supplier is - i.e. the people
responsible for the infrastructure in the area, not the people he pays
the bill to. Around here (South Wales) it is Western Power Distribution
and their number is in the phone book. In Derby it used to be East
Midlands Electricity and their number is still in the phonebook (use the
"new supplies" one) but the actual company involved is something else
altogether now - a name I've forgotten.

This is certainly drifting off on a tangent, but I believe that East
Midlands Electricity is now Powergen.

How do I know this?

Five-ish years ago I was working in Stafford, and East Midlands
Electricity ran an advert on the TV to promote the change of name.
I'll never forget that advert, it went something like this:

- Fade up to show a close-up of an old chap screwing in a light bulb.
- Zoom out to show him screwing in the next light bulb in a large
grid; and the next bulb; and the next..
- Pan to show the sky in the background. The sky goes dark, then
light, then dark, then light. A few days pass, and this poor chap
still hasn't finished fitting these light bulbs.
- Finally there is a shot of the last light bulb to be fitted. The
light bulbs are turned on and the chap leans back with a contented
sigh.
- Zoom out to show his completed effort. It's a large matrix display
of lamps on top of a large building (presumably their headquarters),
and it reads "EAST MIDLANDS ELECTRICITY"

- Cut to voice-over and caption, saying:
"East Midlands Electricity . . . is now changing its name to Powergen"

- Cut to old man, sighing, starting to unscrew all the light bulbs...!
:-)


At the time I remember thinking it was a superb advert. I wonder if
anybody has kept a copy on video somewhere? It surely deserves to be
preserved for posterity!

Cheers,

Jonathan