Stop the Sell Off campaigners are in Newcastle today (Thursday) to discuss the impacts of Premier Mike Baird’s electricity privatisation plan, which will see the sale of Ausgrid and TransGrid, the publicly-owned poles and wires companies that delivers electricity in the Hunter.

Members of the campaign are meeting with local workers and concerned residents who fear job losses, service reductions and price rises if Premier Mike Baird presses ahead with privatisation.

Stop the Sell Off campaign director Adam Kerslake, said potential job losses would be devastating for the region, with Ausgrid employing more than 1,300 people in the Hunter while TransGrid has 160 staff in Newcastle.

Mr Kerslake said voters in Charlestown and Newcastle, who will next month vote in byelections following the resignations of local Liberal MPs during an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation, had a unique opportunity to express their opposition to the sale.

“Premier Mike Baird is willing to leave future generations poorer by selling off the State’s largest income generating asset, all to build a war-chest to fund election promises,” he said.

“Every state that has sold their electricity poles and wires has seen higher prices for consumers, poorer service standards, and cuts to jobs – especially in regional areas.

“The experience in Victoria following privatisation was massive job losses due to the new private owners cutting back on major investment and maintenance.

“If the Baird Government are re-elected in March 2015 they will condemn the Hunter community to local job losses and a higher electricity prices.”

Mr Kerslake said that while the Premier publicly committed to taking electricity privatisation to the March 2015 election, he had already locked in lucrative contracts worth millions of dollars with investment banks, lawyers, and accountancy firms to start the sale process.

“Our electricity network – made up of Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy, Essential Energy and TransGrid – is the state’s most valuable income generating asset,” he said.

“The profits from these four companies currently deliver billions of dollars every year to help pay for schools, hospitals and transport – income that will be lost forever following privatisation.

“Under Premier Baird’s plan, the people of Charlestown, Newcastle, and the rest of the Hunter region will be left paying higher electricity bills as private owners cut back on spending and increase prices to maximise returns for shareholders.

“Price regulations and job protections may provide temporary measure to get the Liberal Party past the next election, but once they expire we will see a repeat of the experiences of South Australia – which has the highest power bills in the country – and Victoria – where poor maintenance by the private owner sparked several of the deadly Black Saturday bushfires.

“I challenge anyone to provide an example of anywhere privatisation has led to lower prices.

“The NSW Government needs to cut back on the political spin and be truthful with the people of NSW that the privatisation of the poles and wires will not be a good thing for power consumers.

“This is a short sighted policy that will deliver a one off budget sugar hit while leaving electricity consumers worse off in the long run.

“The only way to ensure the people of NSW will have reliable, affordable and well-maintained electricity services in the decades ahead is to ensure this essential service is owned by the public and operated by the government to benefit all NSW residents.”

“The general public need to understand that a vote for the Liberal Party is a vote for electricity privatisation.”