The privatisation of Australian electricity: Claims, myths and facts

Abstract

Australia has one of the most 'liberalised' electricity sectors in the world. The sale of government-owned electricity companies has contributed to that liberalisation and a quarter of the proceeds of one of the world's largest privatisation programmes. In 2014, the state governments of New South Wales and Queensland announced further electricity privatisations if re-elected. Advocates claim private ownership will mean more productive investment, lower costs leading to more efficient operations, lower prices for all consumers and better market functioning without government interference. Opponents contend that the true value of government businesses is not being realised at sale, retention can achieve returns greater than those from a sale, and that follow sale, prices will rise and jobs will be lost. This article demonstrates that the claims of either lower or higher prices, of job losses and of more efficient operations are tantamount to being myths of privatisation not borne out by reality.

Space of energy well‐being: Social housing tenants’ everyday experiences of fuel poverty

“…Australia has one of the most “liberalised” energy markets globally following the sale of government‐owned electricity companies since the 1990s (Chester, ). Counter to the neo‐liberal rhetoric of privatisation delivering lower household electricity prices, according to Chester () the average price increase was 114 per cent in New South Wales (NSW), in the six years to 2013/14, of which 81 per cent could be attributed to transmission and distribution charges.…”

“…Australia has one of the most “liberalised” energy markets globally following the sale of government‐owned electricity companies since the 1990s (Chester, ). Counter to the neo‐liberal rhetoric of privatisation delivering lower household electricity prices, according to Chester () the average price increase was 114 per cent in New South Wales (NSW), in the six years to 2013/14, of which 81 per cent could be attributed to transmission and distribution charges. Social housing tenants on low incomes are particularly prone to energy price increases, a predisposition heighted by the absence of energy upgrades to the PKHT buildings through either the Clean Energy Finance Corporation's (CEFC) Community Housing Program, Australian Commonwealth Government, or the Home Energy Action Program (HEAP), Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW.…”

Challenges in transitioning to low carbon living for lower income households in Australia

“…Energy prices in Australia have increased exponentially in recent years (Chester, 2015). This was especially the case since studies like that by Simshauser et al (2011) declared that no Australian households across the five income quintiles experienced fuel poverty or energy hardship according to international standards.…”

The drivers of energy-related financial hardship in Australia – understanding the role of income, consumption and housing

“…Housing quality also has quite significant impacts on household energy consumption. Cheaper housing has tended to be of poorer quality with low energy efficiency ratings (Chester, 2014;Chester, 2015;Hernandez and Bird, 2012). To the extent they are homeowners, low income households may have limited access to capital to improve a dwellings thermal performance, and also be limited in their ability to upgrade appliance stocks to more efficient models (Chester, 2014).…”