AusNet Services
TypePrivate
IndustryEnergy
PredecessorState Electricity Commission of Victoria
Headquarters
Melbourne
,
Australia
Area served
Victoria
Key people
Tony Navarez, Chief Executive Officer
ProductsElectricity transmission and distribution; gas distribution
OwnerBrookfield Asset Management
ParentAustralian Energy Holdings No 4 Pty Limited (2022 - )
WebsiteOfficial website

AusNet Services (previously SP AusNet) is an Australian energy delivery services business, owning and operating more than $11 billion of electricity and gas network assets. It is a privately held, and was formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX). AusNet is currently owned by Australian Energy Holdings No 4 Pty Limited, a company controlled by Brookfield Asset Management. The co-investors include pension funds in Australia and Canada.

History

In 2004 Singapore Power paid $US3.7 billion for TXU's entire Australian energy portfolio, and in 2005 resold power generation and retailing assets in the TXU portfolio to Hong Kong-based CLP Group for about $2.2 billion.[1] Later in 2005, it publicly floated the business as SP AusNet, and selling 49% of the remaining assets for about $1 billion to the public, while retaining a 51% stake. In 2007 it joined with Babcock & Brown for the $7.4 billion Alinta acquisition, and during the global financial crisis that year, it tried but failed to sell the Alinta assets into SP AusNet.[1]

In May 2013, Singapore Power sold 19.9% of its 51% stake in the company to State Grid Corporation of China for A$824 million,[1] valuing the company at A$4.1 billion.

SP AusNet changed its name to AusNet Services in August 2014, following the end of a management services agreement between Singapore Power and SP AusNet in March.

In February 2022, AusNet Services was taken private after a successful 2021 bid from Brookfield Asset Management with a number of Australian & Canadian pension funds as co-investors.[2]

Operations

AusNet Services operates three energy networks in Victoria, Australia:[3]

  • high voltage and extra high voltage electric transmission network in Victoria (66kV and above)
  • low voltage and medium voltage electric distribution network in Victoria (22kV and below) (one of five electricity distributors in Victoria, covering eastern Victoria and eastern/northeastern suburbs of Melbourne)
  • gas distribution network in Victoria (one of three gas distributors in Victoria).

AusNet Services is the manager and operator of the high voltage electricity transmission network in Victoria, and is the sole transmission network service provider (TNSP) in Victoria in the National Electricity Market (NEM). It is a party in the Australian Energy Regulator's (AER) revenue proposal process, where submissions of TNSPs, the AER and other interested parties are used to set the maximum allowable revenue (MAR) for TNSPs for a five-year period.

Its commercial business Mondo provides a range of services and solutions to enable community energy hubs and solar mini grids.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission found that the Kilmore East part of the February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria "started after the conductor between poles 38 and 39 failed and the live conductor came into contact with a cable stay supporting pole 38. This contact caused arcing that ignited vegetation near the base of pole 38."[4] Following a class action lawsuit related to that fire, in July 2014 the company announced a A$260 million legal settlement. Utility Service Providers will pay another $10 million, and the Victoria State Government a further $29 million.[5][6]

In December 2014 a AU$378.6 million sum was approved by the Supreme Court of Victoria as AusNets part of a $494 million settlement of a second class action. Utility Services Corporation Ltd will also pay $12.5 million, and the Victorian Government $103.6 million.[7] It has been noted as being "the biggest class action settlement in Australian legal history".[8] The previous highest payout was $200 Million in Kirby v Centro Properties Limited (No 6) [2012] FCA 650 (19 June 2012).[9][10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Maiden, Malcolm (17 May 2013). "China's State Grid powers up in Australia". Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Brookfield Wins Australia's AusNet with $7.7 Billion Deal". Bloomberg.com. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "What We Do - Energy Networks". AusNet Services. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Teague, Bernard; McLeod, Ronald; Pascoe, Susan (July 2010). "Chap.5" (PDF). THE KILMORE EAST FIRE. Vol. 1: The Fires and the Fire-Related Deaths (1 ed.). p. 75. ISBN 978-0-9807408-2-0. Archived from the original (PDF - 1,478 KB) on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2015. The fire started after the conductor between poles 38 and 39 failed and the live conductor came into contact with a cable stay supporting pole 38. This contact caused arcing that ignited vegetation near the base of pole 38. An electrical fault was recorded at 11:45. ... fatigue of the conductor strands was partly caused by the helical termination being incorrectly seated in a thimble. ... The conductor was probably 43 years old. ... A line inspection carried out in February 2008 had failed to identify the incorrectly seated helical fitting. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ↑ Ferrier, Steph (6 February 2015). "Marysville bushfire class action: Black Saturday bushfire victims to get $300 million payout". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Electricity company AusNet has announced a $300 million settlement with the Marysville victims of the Black Saturday bushfires.
  6. ↑ "Victims of Black Saturday fire launch class action". ABC News. Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2015. A class action will be launched in the Supreme Court today on behalf of victims of the Murrindindi bushfire on Black Saturday in 2009.
  7. ↑ "Black Saturday class action: Judge approves $494m Kilmore East bushfire settlement". ABC News. Australia. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015. Victoria's Supreme Court has approved a $494 million payout to victims of the deadly 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, in what is considered to be the biggest class action in Australia's legal history.
  8. ↑ "Black Saturday bushfire survivors secure $500 million in Australia's largest class action payout". ABC News. Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Record settlement in Black Saturday bushfires class action". marysvillecommunity.net. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015. At nearly $500 million, the payout is more than double the previous highest Australian class action settlement of $200 million in the Centro shareholder class action
  10. ↑ "Record payout over Australia Black Saturday fires". BBC News (Asia). British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 15 July 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
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