Power supply: In 1895, the Government of Bengal passed the Calcutta Electric Lighting Act and in 1897 Kilburn & Co., as agents of The Indian Electric Company Limited, secured the license for electric lighting in Kolkata. The company soon changed its name to Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation. It commissioned the first thermal power plant in India, at Emambagh Lane, near Prinsep Ghat, in 1899. The switching over from horse-drawn carriages to electricity by Calcutta Tramways Company in 1902, provided further impetus to the rise in power consumption. The years of power shortage in the 1970s and 1980s, have been left behind. Now, CESC serves 2.8 million consumers. Total electric consumption in Kolkata district has gone up from 6,424 million KWH in 2006–07 to 8,135 million KWH in 2010–11.