NSW govt reveals another power plan

(AAP) - The NSW government says its plan to sell off part of the state's electricity sector is far from dead.

Premier Morris Iemma said an alternative plan would not require the support of the
opposition, nor would it require legislation to be passed by the parliament.
It would lead to the sale of electricity retailers and potential sites for generator
developments, with the government retaining the existing power generators.
The government's move came after the opposition vowed to withhold crucial support
for the sale plan, and despite the fact that Mr Iemma said on Wednesday that there
was no "plan B".
"It will be an alternative package that has at its heart securing NSW's electricity
supplies," Mr Iemma told reporters.
"It's a package that doesn't require the support of the opposition and a package
that doesn't require the legislation."
Despite earlier saying there was no "plan B", Mr Iemma said the government had been
working on the alternative package if the opposition opposed the previous plan.
"This process is not over," Treasurer Michael Costa said.
Under the previous sell-off proposal, the state government intended to sell off the
electricity retailers and lease out its power generators in long-term arrangements.
However, that plan was killed off when Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell declared
the coalition would not vote for the enabling legislation.
Mr Iemma needed the support of the opposition in order to pass the legislation after
a number of his own MPs declared they would cross the floor to defeat the sale.
Meanwhile, political strategist Bruce Hawker says the NSW government's revised power
privatisation plan could provide both parties with "a way out with some credibility.
Caucus is expected to endorse a plan to sell the electricity retailers and potential
development sites for power generators, while retaining ownership of the current
generators.
"I think the new plan has a lot of merit and it is probably what should have been
adopted initially," Mr Hawker told AAP.
He said former Queensland premier Peter Beattie pushed through the sale of his
state's electricity retailers just before the last election and it "went through
without a murmur of dissent and raised in the order of about $2 billion."
"It allows them to retrieve some of the value from this sale," Mr Hawker added.
Mr Hawker said the value of electricity assets were declining all the time.
"That is the flaw in the O'Farrell argument," he said.
Mr O'Farrell refused to support the sell-off, saying the government would not get
the "best possible price" for the assets because the timing was wrong.
Mr Hawker said the new plan steered Mr Iemma away from the previous "complete
collision with the unions" and would also allow Mr O'Farrell to offer his support
"because it doesn't go to the heart of the case he was making about the value of the
power stations".
"I think it is a way out with some credibility," he said.