SR,

Considering that your original claim was: "Privatisation ruins utilities, increases prices, reduces essential maintenance, and kneecaps fairness."

Yet now you have back tracked entirely.

The electricity networks are essentially divided into 2 parts, the generation and the distribution.

My special interest is in the generation, and from the data from the Latrobe valley power stations is that plant availability has dramatically improved from 1990 which shows that maintenance there is far more effective and uses less manpower to achieve this. In addition, this means that the output of the plant is higher, more electricity is sold, and more profits are made.

As for the distribution networks, reading the bushfire RC, there is no indication that the rate of faults are any higher, nor fires caused are any different from before the network was privatised.

http://www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Commission-Reports/Final-Report/Volume-2/Chapters/Electricity-Caused-Fire.html

Rather, the initial design of the network in rural areas appears not to be entirely appropriate, and risk reduction would involve $bns replacing the network. To do this would require permission from the Vic Government to raise power costs to fund the capital expense, which according to the RC was requested and refused.

That the maintenance budget was underspent is largely irrelevant, the only question is whether the required maintenance was done

Shadow,

"Of your three reasons given why generation should not be privatised:"
Just to clarify: they are situations where it's best not to privatize it, not general reasons why electricity generation should not be privatised.

"1 Over pricing can be controlled by regulation and high profits bring in competition"
Theoretically true, but the regulators are usually too timid, and it is very difficult to prove market manipulation. High profits do not always bring in competition, as the real driver is the expectation of high profits. If there is more competition (or just tougher regulation) high profits now do not indicate high profits in the future.

"2 This applies just as well to private generators such as in Germany,"
True, but protecting consumers' interests when an effective monopoly is privatised is a lot harder than doing so when it's been in private hands from the start.

"3 Efficiency is generally better in private hands."
But I'm not referring to the general case, I'm referring to the specific exceptions. Not every public sector organization is badly run, and even where privatisation results in an internal efficiency improvement it isn't always passed on to the customers. And where the cost of capital is a high proportion of the total cost, the public sector's lower borrowing cost gives it an intrinsic advantage.

I do actually agree that efficiency is generally better in private hands. But there are lots of exceptions, and just assuming privatization will bring better efficiency is a trap for unwary governments.