Privatised Electricity - From the People Who Gave Us the Cross-City Tunnel

Privatisation of electricity in NSW will mean a large decrease in quality of service and a huge increase in costs.

The price the buyer pays for NSW Electricity will have to be recouped from consumers, who will also have to pay the interest on the buying company's borrowings and the buying company's profit. Private companies can't borrow money as cheaply as Governments so the interest repayments will cost us more.

A private company will also have a vested interest in getting us to use more electricity: so much for conserving our resources and reducing pollution.

A private company will maximise its profits by charging us as much as they can get away with, and unlike a Government we can't retaliate by throwing them out at the next election. We will be captive customers, like users of the privatised Sydney Airport.

The excuse that the money from the sale will go into hospitals, education and roads rings hollow as those are being gradually privatised too.

What happened to the principle that a core duty of Governments is to provide essential services?

In summary Morris Iemma's proposal to sell off NSW Electricity, with the bait of a resultant cornucopia of infrastructure spending, makes about as solid a business proposition as the latest Nigerian internet banking scam.