Pitt denies debt effect
TREASURER Curtis Pitt has denied piling $ 4 billion in public debt on to governmentowned corporations has increased electricity prices.
The claim has drawn derision from the Opposition with LNP energy spokesman Michael Hart saying Mr Pitt had no credibility as Treasurer if he didn’t understand how higher debt increased repayments.
The issue has arisen after a Townsville resident questioned why the service charges component of his electricity bill had increased 200 per cent in the past few years. The resident, Tony Gunn of Kirwan, said the probable reason for these increases was the State Government decision to transfer some $ 4 billion of its debt to its electricity corporations.
“The Government has been extremely deceitful in the way it has handled this matter in that instead of funding its debt from its own revenue it has foisted it off on to the State’s electricity consumers,” Mr Gunn said.
“I am at a loss to understand why to the best of my knowledge the media has paid little attention to this important issue as the combined service fees now add up to some $ 410 a year on our account, an amount which I suspect would be the equivalent of another quarterly bill for a lot of electricity consumers.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Mr Pitt said electricity prices were driven by supply and demand in the National Electricity Market.
“The level of debt in power sector bodies does not impact on power prices,” the spokesman said.
But Mr Hart said the level of debt on electricity corporations had to affect their costs.
“They have to increase their profits to pay that debt,” Mr Hart said.
“Undoubtedly, it has an effect on the prices of people’s electricity bills.”
Mr Hart said service fees were increased to ensure people with solar panels, who were using less grid power, paid a reasonable share of network costs.
“That’s why people are seeing an increase in service costs,” Mr Hart said.