Property Implications From The Privatisation Of Electricity Supplies - Lessons (For Nsw) From Victoriaís Experience

New South Wales (NSW) the largest state in Australia is currently going through the debate about the privatisation of its (state owned) electricity generation and supply business. This follows similar privatisations that have occurred in other states of Australia. In Victoria the supply of electricity was formerly administered by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) through a three level structure that covered generation of electricity, high voltage distribution and retail level distribution. The Victorian Government decided to privatise the electricity industry in 1993. The privatisation aimed to provide a more efficient use of the community's resources, create an internationally efficient electricity industry, maximise customer choice and reduce the State debt burden. The privatisation split the SECV into five retail electricity distribution businesses, a regulated monopoly transmission owner, a wholesale electricity market and a number of competing generating businesses. The privatisation was undertaken progressively from 1994 to 1996. This paper examines the proposed NSW privatisation proposal to evaluate and estimate the potential impacts on the utilisation of property assets and to determine whether the impact will be similar to those noticed in Victoria.