South Australia may be on the verge of the most significant reform to utility governance in Australia in decades.
The proposed SA Gas & Water Trust represents a fundamental shift in thinking—from utilities as providers of essential services to utilities as enablers of economic growth. By bringing together SA Water, Northern Water and the State Strategic Gas Reserve, the reforms challenge many of the principles that have underpinned economic regulation for the past 30 years.
This raises some important questions. How should costs be shared across customers, industry and taxpayers? Can a utility pursue both efficient service delivery and broader economic development? And what does this mean for the future role of independent economic regulation? In the following article, we explore the drivers behind the reform, how it compares with international approaches, and the key regulatory questions that governments, regulators and utility boards will need to answer.
