{"id":147128,"date":"2016-06-02T15:11:08","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T05:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=147128"},"modified":"2020-10-13T13:10:04","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T03:10:04","slug":"merger-to-form-energy-queensland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/06\/02\/merger-to-form-energy-queensland\/","title":{"rendered":"Merger To Form ‘Energy Queensland’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At Thursday’s launch in Townsville … from left, Minister Assisting the Premier on North Queensland Coralee O\u2019Rourke, Treasurer Curtis Pitt, Member for Townsville Scott Stewart and Ergon chairman Clive Skarott (Photo: State Government)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The new logo for the merged corporation, unveiled in Townsville on Thursday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 2, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new electricity business formed from the merger of the two government-owned corporations Ergon Energy and Energex will be known as “Energy Queensland”.<\/p>\n

State Treasurer Curtis Pitt made the announcement and unveiled the business’s new logo at its headquarters in Townsville on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemoving 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\u2019s electricity assets,” Mr Pitt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Pitt said the new logo – which reflects the State borders – represented how the new business would reach every corner if Queensland.
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\nEnergy Minister Mark Bailey said Energy Queensland had decided to set up its headquarters in Townsville to maintain a strong regional presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to ensure regional customers pay a similar price to SEQ.<\/p>\n

“This year we\u2019ll spend almost $500 million subsidising the cost of electricity in regional Queensland, supporting 700,000 regional Queensland customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister Assisting the Premier on North Australia Coralee O\u2019Rourke said the new company was on track to open its Townsville headquarters in coming weeks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d Mrs O\u2019Rourke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrontline 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to stress that there will be no forced redundancies.”<\/p>\n

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