Letter in today’s Melbourne Age.
Power of the state
One good, if dodgy, reason for NSW to sell 50.4 per cent of
its Ausgrid network to a Chinese company is that in 10-15 years' time the
network will have lost value as a new generation of energy storage erodes
profitability and power generation becomes decentralised. If Germany can
produce 90 per cent of its power from wind and solar for a few hours as it did
on May 11, what can a far sunnier NSW do for much of the year?
But if Ausgrid were kept in state hands, then NSW would be
able to manage the transition to decentralised power generation more
effectively and ensure a balance between zero carbon renewables, storage and
"always-on" base load power. Furthermore, the deal ensures a return
of 6 per cent. As we move to a possibly long period of ultra-low interest
rates, retirees and superannuation funds would jump at the chance to invest
under these conditions, especially if the deal were underwritten by the state
government.
One of the two shortlisted entities is the State Grid of
China, one of the largest state-owned and controlled organisations. While
Premier Mike Baird is making the decision now, he won't be in power when the
telephone call is made saying, in effect: "May I remind you, sir, not to
forget who controls your power distribution."
Richard Campbell,
Toorak.
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