Pole dancing

If the premier of NSW loses the upcoming election it will be because of two reasons.

One, Tony Abbott, which we can’t really blame Baird for. Although he seems a lot closer to the onion eater than is explicable by any measure of intelligence.

And two, because he wants to sell our electricity poles (aka telegraph poles) to a private monopoly (that will subsequently rape us for their use) and then recycle the sale proceeds into transport (roads and trains) and probably a little debt repayment.

You have to wonder why our politicians feel the need to do anything? As soon as they do they become a target for the opposition and the press.

If I was in government I would be selling long term leases to government monopolies rather than ‘selling’ them. Same thing really but much better politics.

For example, they could sell a 20, 30 or even a 99 year lease on the poles with options for renewal. The value of such a lease wouldn’t be much different from the sale of the whole shebang – the value of the business would be based on the discounted cash flow of the operating profits, and the underlying assets would be a cost neutral and deteriorating asset that needs a pesky and constant injection of capital by the lessee.

Hang on, this is what they are doing. You wouldn’t know it from the public discourse. All they need to do is put in penalty clauses on price gouging and it would be fine. This is just a matter of communications.

Just as aside we might be better off flogging the poles before everyone goes off grid. As power storage becomes more cost effective, the move to ever-cheapening solar energy will accelerate. The residual grid connected customers will then pay more for the privilege, hence creating even further incentives to go off grid. No amount of government intervention can permanently get in the way of such an appealing option.