The Australian
THE NSW government has sold two of its major power stations to EnergyAustralia, effectively unwinding Labor’s “Gentrader” deal and taking a further step towards the total privatisation of the state’s power industry.
Mt Piper and Wallerawang power stations in the NSW Central West have been sold for $160 million, a relative pittance, but the sale releases the state government from potential liabilities which NSW Treasurer Mike Baird estimated at $200 million over the life of the contract.
In 2010, faced with intractable opposition from within the Labor party , the ALP state administration sold the power output from the stations while leaving the physical assets in government ownership. The contract opened up liabilities if the power stations failed to deliver the promised output.
This is the second major sale of power stations to the electricity distributors which take the power output under the Gentrader contracts.