Country Energy, an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

retail subsidiary of

Origin Energy Origin Energy an ASX listed public company with headquarters in Sydney. It is a major integrated electricity generator, and electricity and natural gas retailer. It operates Australia’s largest coal-fired power station at Lake Macquarie, Ne ...

, provides

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

and

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

to retail customers in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

.. Since its establishment in 2001 and until 28 February 2011, Country Energy was owned by the Government of New South Wales.

History

On 1 July 2001 Country Energy was formed by the merger of New South Wales rural-based energy retailers, Great Southern Energy, Advance Energy and Northpower - all statutory owned by the Government of New South Wales. In addition to electricity retailing, Country Energy operated Australia's largest electricity distribution network by area, covering 95% of the area of New South Wales as well as extending into small parts of Queensland and Victoria. It was one of developers of

Directlink Directlink (Terranora) Interconnector is a buried 59 kilometre (37 mi) High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) electricity transmission cable route from near Lavertys Gap (), Southwest of Mullumbimby, New South Wales and Bungalora () & connected via ...

, a

high voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

electricity transmission line between New South Wales and Queensland transmission grids. In October 2010, Country Energy sold its natural gas network to Envestra Limited for 108.6 million, which includes of transmission and of distribution pipelines. On 15 December 2010, the New South Wales Treasurer,

Eric Roozendaal Eric Michael Roozendaal (born 16 March 1962), a former Australian politician, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, serving between 2004 and 2013. He is a former General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales ...

, announced that the retail division of Country Energy (including the Country Energy brand) was sold to

as part of a A$3.25 billion deal. As part of the sale of the retail business the electricity distribution division was separated from Country Energy and re-branded as Essential Energy on 1 March 2011.

Operations

Country Energy has 870,000 customers, and annual revenues of $2.3 billion. It provides natural gas and electricity to retail customers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory. The two contact centres are located in the New South Wales cities of

Port Macquarie Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea c ...

and Leeton.

References

External links

Country Energy website
{{EnergyNSW Former government-owned companies of New South Wales Electric power companies of Australia Government-owned energy companies