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: 35

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

Burbia favorited tjdavis's photo
4 hours ago
FREEDOMROX's blog post was featured
5 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post WHY YOU MUST UNDERSTAND AMYLOIDOSIS AND AMYLOID PLAQUES June 13, 2022
9 hours ago
FREEDOMROX posted a blog post
12 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
14 hours ago
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government
"cheeki kea, thanks so much for your support."
17 hours ago
FREEDOMROX posted a blog post
yesterday
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government
Thursday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thursday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Greetings to you John, You're right and it didn't take long for those manuals to totally…"
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government

We now know thanks to the legislation of FOIA access to federal documents and evidence and the…See More
Wednesday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Wednesday
Less Prone favorited rlionhearted_3's photo
Wednesday
John Miller commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"Brutal post... not sure it’s helping anyone though."
Tuesday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Tartaria: the empire that built half the world's cathedrals, then vanished because someone…"
Tuesday
Burbia commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"This movie portrayed plastic surgery as absurd. I guess the numbers in the real world are growing."
Tuesday
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Redux

"Ah yes, General Jussitri Smolletkov. Good tongzhi. Good tongzhi."
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Unusual Discoveries and Headlines

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tool dated to be 6,000 years old, but even more…See More
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

Inside Texas HOMELESS HELL – Even Cops Don't Dare Step In! - Documentary

In this powerful documentary, we explore the escalating Texas homeless crisis 2025, where cities and rural areas alike are witnessing a disturbing rise in th...
Monday

© 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