June 2, 2016
The new electricity business formed from the merger of the two government-owned corporations Ergon Energy and Energex will be known as “Energy Queensland”.
State Treasurer Curtis Pitt made the announcement and unveiled the business’s new logo at its headquarters in Townsville on Thursday.
“Removing duplication in areas like administration, shared services, boards, management and corporate costs we are creating a more efficient business and adopting industry best practice so that the available funds can be re-invested into better services for all Queenslanders, while retaining public ownership of the State’s electricity assets,” Mr Pitt said.
“Rather than sell these assets to the private sector and watch power prices soar, the Palaszczuk Government is delivering on its election commitment to reduce costs and make these businesses work better for Queenslanders.”
Mr Pitt said the new logo – which reflects the State borders – represented how the new business would reach every corner if Queensland.
Energy Minister Mark Bailey said Energy Queensland had decided to set up its headquarters in Townsville to maintain a strong regional presence.
“This new business will support the development of regional Queensland and will have a clear focus on providing regional Queenslanders with access to the innovative new products and services available in other parts of Australia,” he said.
“We will continue to ensure regional customers pay a similar price to SEQ.
“This year we’ll spend almost $500 million subsidising the cost of electricity in regional Queensland, supporting 700,000 regional Queensland customers.”
Minister Assisting the Premier on North Australia Coralee O’Rourke said the new company was on track to open its Townsville headquarters in coming weeks.
“I’m very excited that this merger will bring more jobs to North Queensland and look forward to the economic activity this will bring to our region over the coming years,” Mrs O’Rourke said.
“Frontline staff will continue to operate in their respective regions to ensure the network businesses continue to be leaders in emergency response and to ensure the lights remain on for Queensland businesses and households.
“I want to stress that there will be no forced redundancies.”
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