Electricity industry threatens farmer who dared to fight

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/electricity-industry-threatens-farmer-who...

 

A NSW farmer has been threatened with legal action by the $10 billion electricity sector for questioning the over-investment in assets that has driven up power prices and rewarded power company owners, including the NSW government, with generous dividends.

Bruce Robertson, a former stockmarket analyst who took up cattle farming 10 years ago, has received a letter from lawyers for Grid Australia, the industry body that represents the nation's transmission companies, including the NSW government-owned TransGrid.

Mr Robertson, who runs a farm at Burrell Creek, west of Taree, has been accused of defaming and causing "significant hurt and damage" to the transmission companies and told to issue an apology and pay their legal costs.

His MP, the independent Rob Oakeshott, said Mr Robertson was paying the price for speaking up on behalf of his community against Transgrid's power line expansion plans.

"People want to know what is going on, and people such as Bruce Robertson and others, myself included, won't accept legal threats as a reason to stop applying pressure for reform," Mr Oakeshott said. "My message to the NSW government is 'call off the dogs' on this farmer, and start explaining an electricity reform agenda."

Mr Robertson became active after Transgrid considered building power lines through the Manning Valley, where his property is situated.

His investigations led to the exposure in the Herald of the links between inflated industry forecasts of electricity demand and soaring power bills.

He exposed the practice of "gold-plating" earlier this year after investigating the structure of the electricity industry and its regulated returns, identifying the fatal flaw that the more money the industry spent on infrastructure, the higher were its financial returns.

This gold-plating has been the principal driver of power prices, which in NSW have risen by 80 per cent over the past five years.

Next month the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, will seek agreement from the states to a series of reforms designed to take pressure off power prices.

Mr Robertson has been a thorn in the side of the power companies, making his claims through an organisation he established, called the Manning Alliance. He has long argued that increasing power bills were caused mostly by over-investment rather than the carbon tax or rising electricity consumption.

Grid Australia has threatened legal action over statements that Mr Robertson made in the Herald and to ABC radio on October 22. He challenged claims that Grid Australia made to a Senate inquiry into power prices that rising peak demand was a principal reason for increased spending



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/electricity-industry-threatens-farmer-who...

Views: 36

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted blog posts
51 minutes ago
kacang99 commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

The Name Game

"very nice, main di kacang99 demo situs slot kasih akun demo gratis"
2 hours ago
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"cheeki kea I was wrong Emperor Penguins are big and powerful but still alive but this,  A size…"
3 hours ago
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"Cheeki kea here's another that they say there have been modern sightings of!  The name of…"
3 hours ago
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"cheeki kea, did you ever hear of the giant Imperial Penguins? They were about 6 feet tall and could…"
4 hours ago
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Plausible Explanation Behind Recent Cryptid Sightings in the Wild!
"cheeki kea I do not think these giant two legged birds would need to have a bad attitude as long as…"
4 hours ago
Olivia Brooks updated their profile
10 hours ago
kacang99 updated their profile
11 hours ago
John Miller was featured
12 hours ago
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
12 hours ago
Zfort Group's blog post was featured
12 hours ago
Doc Vega's 6 blog posts were featured
12 hours ago
Burbia commented on tjdavis's video
Thumbnail

“What’s His Motive?” - Inside The Mind of George Soros

"Trump calls for George Soros and son to face federal…"
17 hours ago
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
18 hours ago
Profile Iconkacang99, Seeta Sathe and Olivia Brooks joined 12160 Social Network
18 hours ago
tjdavis posted a video

Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit | John Kiriakou

John Kiriakou served 15 years in the CIA as a Case Officer (Spy) and as CIA's Head of Counterterrorism Operations in Pakistan where he lead the raid that cap...
yesterday
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
tjdavis posted a video

A Critique of the Tavistock Institute - The Mother Of All Conspiracy Theories

An examination of the Tavistock Institute, a theory which seeks to explain how Western societies have been brainwashed by a cabal of social scientists and th...
Sunday
tjdavis posted a video

“What’s His Motive?” - Inside The Mind of George Soros

In this short clip, Patrick Bet-David, Sebastian Gorka Adam Sosnick, and Tom Ellsworth George Soros and what motivates him to do the things he does. FaceTime...
Thursday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Aug 27

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted