Bad regulation adds to power bills: Garnaut

SOARING NSW power bills are partly due to flawed government regulation that encourages massive over-investment in towers and wires and pays inflated returns to state-owned electricity transmission and distribution companies, a report has found.

The federal government's expert climate adviser, Ross Garnaut, says there is a strong prima facie case that regulation of energy transmission and distribution, overseen by federal and state ministers and enforced by the Australian Energy Regulator, is forcing unnecessary price rises on households, and the problem is most acute in states such as NSW where the three network businesses remain state-owned.