Second NSW power privatisation fails
- From: AAP
- February 01, 2011
NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal has confirmed that the State Government's effort to sell a second tranche of electricity assets has failed.
No bids were received for the rights to trade output from the Macquarie Generation power stations and Delta Electricity's central coast power stations by the deadline yesterday.
Mr Roozendaal blamed the State Opposition for the withdrawal of interested parties.
"There were multiple bidders going through due diligence process," he told ABC Radio today.
"Unfortunately, due to the threats from (Opposition Leader) Barry O'Farrell around retrospective legislation, around further privatisation, it was a commercially uncertain environment and none of the private investors decided to put bids in."
The Government had hoped to raise $2 billion from the sale of the Macquarie and Delta assets.
In December, the Government sold the rights to the output of power stations managed by Eraring Energy and Delta West and electricity retailers Energy Australia, Integral Energy and Country Energy.
That sale, for $5.3 billion, was labelled a "charity giveaway" by Opposition shadow Treasurer Mike Baird.
The associated costs and penalties involved in the contract would leave the Government with only a few hundred million dollars, he said last month.
