Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt has revealed the name and logo of the company that was created through the merger of Ergon and Energex, which is now Australia’s largest electricity distributor.
The new distributor will be called ‘Energy Queensland’ and its company headquarters are located in Townsville.
“The simplicity of the company’s name reflects the efficiencies we’re looking to achieve here – by streamlining the companies to improve productiveness we will ultimately deliver power bill savings for customers over the longer term,” Mr Pitt said.
“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.
“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.”
The new logo also reflects Queensland’s state borders, representing how this new business will reach every corner of our state and be at the core of how consumers use electricity.
Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey said Energy Queensland was deliberately headquartered 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,” Mr Bailey said.
“While we work through the transition Ergon and Energex will continue to provide safe and reliable energy to Queensland.
“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 and Member for Mundingburra Coralee O’Rourke said the new company was on track to open its Townsville headquarters in the 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.
“Energy Queensland will look at options to utilise renewable technologies in regional Queensland, particularly in remote areas of our state, to improve reliability and sustainability of electricity supply.”
Formed from the merger of electricity distributors Ergon Energy and Energex, the new Energy Queensland brings together two government owned corporations, creating an energy business to respond to the needs of customers and the current and future energy market.
