Last week's determination by IPART into the pricing of electricity in NSW is the result, in part, of a failure to properly manage the State's electricity assets over many years.

Under this determination, the average small business in Sydney will see electricity prices rise by at least $1,433 a year for Energy Australia customers and $706 a year for Integral Energy customers.  This represents a 36% increase over three years for Energy Australia and 20% for Integral Energy.

Local consumers and businesses are paying a heavy price for inaccurate forecasting of electricity demand.

The jump in "network charges" is recognition that NSW has under-invested in electricity infrastructure for too long.

We are now paying the penalty of failures on the part of the industry, regulators and government to accurately forecast energy demand and the resultant need for more and better electricity infrastructure. 

The planned increases will hit local small business hard with a typical small business in Sydney experiencing increases in the order of $27.50 per week from Energy Australia and $13.50 per week from Integral Energy.

The NSW Business Chamber, said business had long proposed that the government privatise its electricity asset as a way of ensuring the sector's assets were managed correctly - and the opponents of privatisation always argued that only Government controlled electricity assets would keep electricity prices under control.

What we have seen is a failure to invest in the long term - and a failure in management resulting in major price increases.  This is further proof NSW is poorly served by an electricity sector in government hands.