Take down that gold plating

Queensland and other state governments are being urged to remove or devalue so called gold plating from electrical transmission networks, by The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

That would include a voluntary government write-down of the regulatory asset base in Queensland, Tasmania and for Essential Energy in NSW, and use of rebates on network charges in NSW.

It was estimated the write-downs and rebates could result in savings of $100 a year for the average residential customer.

It is estimated network charges, or "pole and wires", make up about 40 per cent of household electricity bills.