GOLD PLATING of the POLES and WIRES ..

I recall when I first met my friends from the Manning River Valley and they explained what had just occurred for them and how they fought this in their valley with the Manning River Alliance.  Mr Bruce Robertson a resident coined this phrase to describe what they were doing with the poles and wires con.  He highlighted and uncovered the rort and blew the whistle on it. 

Through the tedious pouring over of many pages of figures, Bruce was able to uncover that the electricity consumption was actually going down although the Energy companies were saying otherwise.  From this floor they launched their fight and they won.
 Please read the full transcript from the ABC's Australian Story titled Corridors of Power HERE

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You see they had to take down the story..

Gold Plating the poles and wires and charging it to the consumer.

The following excerpt from  Jess Hill July, 2014  appearing in full in The Monthly

Power corrupts

How network companies lined their pockets and drove electricity prices through the roof

In the past few years, our electricity prices have doubled. While the media has feasted on the likes of pink batts, Peter Slipper and Craig Thomson, the astonishing story behind these price hikes has been all but ignored. And yet, it may be one of the greatest rorts in Australia’s history.
Since 2009, the electricity networks that own and manage our “poles and wires” have quietly spent $45 billion on the most expensive project this country has ever seen. Allowed to run virtually unchecked, they’ve spent vast sums on infrastructure we don’t need, and have charged it all to us, with an additional fee attached. The spending was approved by a federal regulator, and yet the federal government didn’t even note it until it was well underway.
Let’s be clear: this is the single biggest reason power prices have skyrocketed. According to the federal treasury, 51% of your electricity bill goes towards “network charges”. The carbon tax, despite relentless propaganda to the contrary, is small beer, comprising just 9%. The rest of your bill is carved up between those companies that actually generate your electricity (20%) and the retailers who package it up and sell it to you (20%). The Renewable Energy Target is such a small cost impost, the treasury’s analysis doesn’t even include it; the Australian Energy Market Commission says it makes up around 5%.
Thanks to the networks’ infrastructure binge, we now pay some of the highest prices in the developed world. The impact has been felt most keenly in New South Wales and Queensland, where the networks are government owned and network charges have accounted for two thirds of the price increases.  Full Story                                                                                                SORRY, PAGE NOT FOUND

because they had to take the story down... keep reading!

 Gold-plating is no conspiracy theory. The question is: how many billions have been sunk around the country in these souped-up projects?The structure of the business is the fatal flaw. Thanks to their ”regulated-return” model, the more the networks build – and the more they spend – the higher their financial return. Like the investment adviser on a cut of a client’s gross assets, the temptation to leverage is too high. Like liquidators and lawyers, these guys can set their own prices. For consumers, it’s deadly.

Read more here.. and hope this link is not taken down also. 

Images @ Eminpee Fotography