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The prime purpose of this paper is to identify the main trends in the unit cost of electricity during the period and in particular to indicate the principal reasons for the fails in the real price charged to consumers. Most of the analysis is based on accounting reports published by the supply authorities, and the usual deficiences of historical accounting data as indicators of real costs need to be borne in mind. In this regard, it has been assumed that current expenditure gives a reasonable picture of the cost of inputs in each accounting period. As far as capital charges are concerned, there seem to be good reasons to have serious doubts about the adequacy of the accounting data as indicators of the real cost of capital used in the industry. These deficiencies are discussed in Parts V and VI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]