New Biography Sheds Light on the 'Engineering Genius' Behind Scotland's Hydro-Electric Revolution

Edward ‘Electricity’ MacColl helped transform Highland communities  

Pictured left to right: Head of Heritage for SSE Renewables, Gillian O'Reilly, MSP for Perthshire North, John Swinney and SSE Chief Commercial Officer, Martin Pibworth

To mark the 80^th anniversary of the law that brought hydro-electricity to the Scottish Highlands a new biography of Edward ‘Electricity’ MacColl has been published.

MacColl, hailed as an ‘engineering genius’, played a pivotal role in bringing power to homes and businesses across northern Scotland, serving as the inaugural Chief Executive of the Hydro Board.

Born in Dumbarton in 1882, MacColl quickly developed a lifelong love of Argyll and the Highlands, developing an intimate knowledge of the local landscape and helping pioneer hydro power in Scotland.

His role as one of the country’s most influential engineers has never been fully told, but the decision of his granddaughter Alison MacColl to pass on his speeches and letters to the Corporate Archive of SSE, the successor company to the Hydro Board, made it possible to tell his story.

“Shining Light: The story of Edward ‘Electricity’ MacColl” is produced by SSE’s Heritage team and details McColl’s struggles to convince politicians to back technology in the face of criticism from landowners, tourist businesses and those working in the coal industry.

It also reveals his conviction that hydro-electricity could revitalise the regional economy.  The book shares MacColl's vision of transforming what he described as an area that 'may be picturesque to the visitor and the artist' but, in the post-war period, was increasingly characterised by 'impoverished and neglected land, abandoned houses, closing schools, and a diminished population'.

Highland historian Professor James Hunter, who experienced the advent of electricity in his home in 1953, describes the biography as “a fine account of a very fine man,” saying that “Scotland and the wider UK owe a great debt to MacColl”.

Edward ‘Electricity’ MacColl’s achievements included:

• In the 1920s, he built the country’s first large-scale hydro-electric scheme for public supply at the Falls of Clyde near New Lanark.
• In the 1930s, he completed the first regional electricity grid in Britain, paving the way for what became the first integrated national grid in the world.
• In the 1940s, in very challenging circumstances, he got power from the glens through iconic hydro-electric schemes and took power to the glens by extending electricity supply to remote cottages, crofts and communities.

He was responsible for building hydro-electric schemes including Glen Affric-River Beauly, Breadalbane, Loch Sloy-Loch Awe, Glen Garry-Glen Moriston, Strath Conon and Loch Tummel.

Sadly, he died shortly before he could see the Tummel scheme to completion, having built a reputation for working exceptionally hard.

Instead of a grand opening ceremony, a much smaller event was held in Sir Edward’s honour with a permanent memorial to him unveiled at Pitlochry Power Station.

Last Friday, the new biography was launched at a special event at the Pitlochry Dam Visitor Centre, featuring contributions from John Swinney, local MSP and former Deputy First Minister, Alison MacColl, Edward MacColl’s granddaughter, and Martin Pibworth, Chief Commercial Officer of SSE - the UK's largest hydro operator.

Pictured left to right: Head of Heritage for SSE Renewables, Gillian O'Reilly; SSE Chief Commercial Officer, Martin Pibworth; MSP for Perthshire North, John Swinney and Edward MacColl's granddaughter, Alison MacColl

"My grandfather loved engineering and the Highlands and it is great to see his contribution to hydro-electricity and the region recognised in this excellent new book from SSE’s Heritage team. I hope it will serve as an inspiration to others showing the difference passion, determination and innovation can make, not just to local communities but to whole countries."

Alison MacColl

"There is no doubt Edward MacColl was a visionary. He realised the potential to unlock the remarkable natural resources of the North of Scotland to benefit local communities and the country more broadly. Today, on the eve of another renewables revolution in Scotland his life serves as an inspiration to the next generation of electricity pioneers."

Martin Pibworth SSE CCO

Note: Shining Light, copiously illustrated with archival and other photographs and running to 205 pages, costs £16 and can be purchased by contacting [email protected].  The book will go on to be stocked by a variety of bookshops and an eBook version will be released later in the summer.