Much of this load was taken off Hanley power station after construction of Meaford power station in the 1930’s, when it was linked to supply power to the National Grid.

In 1919, the UK government was planning the reconstruction of the nation's industries after the First World War. The Board of Trade 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 which included the North West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority - the Commission continued to exist for some years after nationalisation, and finally closed in 1953.

The electrical power industry in the United Kingdom was nationalised by the Electricity Act 1947, when over 600 electric power companies were merged into twelve Area Boards.

The Midlands Electricity Board (MEB) took over the Stoke-on-Trent County Borough Corporation supply and the North West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority.

Companies that the NWMJEA supplied with electricity included Berry Hill Collieries in Stoke-on-Trent and the New Haden Colliery engineering shops and New Haden brickworks at Cheadle