Australia: ACCC chairman concerned over plans to merge state’s coal-fired generators

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has major concerns with the Queensland government’s plans to merge energy companies into two, saying it would result in higher power prices.

Mr Sims said the regulator was less concerned with the merger of the electricity network companies Powerlink, Energex and Ergon – which were already monopolies – than the electrictity generation companies, CS Energy and Stanwell Corporation.

The ACCC boss was not happy with the Bligh government’s plan to merge the three public generators into two into 2011 – and even less so with the Palazczuk government’s plans to create one mega-generation company with 66 per cent market share in Queensland.

“You’ve already got too much concentration in Queensland generation. To further generation concentration is a great worry. I would be deepy concerned by anything that had the potential to reduce competition between Stanwell and CS Energy,” Mr Sims said in an interview.

Full Content: The Courier Mail

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