Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further above the 50% mark it had set in the 1944 election.

The fourth plebiscite conducted province-wide in Alberta's history, the 1948 electrification referendum was not a traditional yes–no question but presented two options on electricity generation and transmission.

The driving force behind the referendum was whether to provide rural electrification through provincial government ownership or leave it in the hands of private corporations, who had done very little up to that time and did not have the financial resources to perform the task.

In fact, voters in Edmonton were effectively split and the rural areas were in favour of provincial control, but an even larger majority in Calgary voted to retain the old system.

Ten districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates: All parties other than the Independent Movement fielded full slates.