Drax Group One significant change was the emergence of vertically integrated companies, combining generation, distribution and supply interests. In certain cases, it became necessary for generation assets to be divested, and so in 1999 Drax Power Station was acquired by the US-based AES Corporation for £1.87 billion (US$3 billion). A partial re-financing of Drax was completed in 2000, with £400 million of senior bonds being issued by AES Drax Holdings, and £267 million of subordinated debt issued by AES Drax Energy. Increased competition, over-capacity and new trading arrangements contributed to a significant drop in wholesale electricity prices, which hit an all-time low
John Erle-Drax name Richard Drax. John Erle-Drax John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge Erle-Drax (6 October 1800 – 5 January 1887) was a British Member of Parliament (MP) during the Victorian era. Born John Sawbridge, he was the son of Samuel Elias Sawbridge, of Olantigh in Kent, and grandson of John Sawbridge, Lord Mayor of London in 1775. John married Jane Frances Erle-Drax-Grosvenor, daughter of Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor, in 1827. On 13 August 1828, his wife's brother Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor died unmarried, and he succeeded to her family estates, including Charborough House, assuming the surname of Erle-Drax. He was a captain in the East Kent Militia,