Department of Energy (United Kingdom)

The Department of Energy was a department of the United Kingdom Government. The department was established in January 1974, when the responsibility for energy production was transferred away from the Department of Trade and Industry in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and with the importance of North Sea oil increasing.

Not to be confused with the UK government department which existed between 2008 and 2016, the Department of Energy and Climate Change or the current UK government department, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Department of Energy
Department overview
Formed8 January 1974
Preceding Department
Dissolved11 April 1992
Superseding agency
  • Department of Trade and Industry (energy policy)
    Office of Gas Supply (gas market regulation)
    Office of Electricity Regulation (electricity market regulation)
    Department of the Environment (conservation and climate change)
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
Headquarters1, Victoria Street, London
Ministers responsible
  • Lord Carrington, Secretary of State of Energy (first)
  • John Wakeham, Secretary of State of Energy (last)

Following the privatisation of the energy industries in the United Kingdom, which had begun some ten years earlier, the department was abolished in 1992. Many of its functions were abandoned, with the remainder being absorbed into other bodies or departments. The Office of Gas Supply (Ofgas) and the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) took over market regulation, the Energy Efficiency Office was transferred to the Department of the Environment, and various media-related functions were transferred to the Department of National Heritage. The core activities relating to UK energy policy were transferred back to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The Department of Energy was a significant source of funding for energy research, and for investigations into the potential for renewable energy technologies in the UK. Work funded or part-funded by the department included investigations into Geothermal power and the Severn Barrage

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