Electricity Trust of South Australia

The Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) was the South Australian Government-owned monopoly vertically integrated electricity provider from 1946 until its privatisation in 1999 by Liberal Party Premier John Olsen. The privatisation, which broke Olsen's 1997 election promises not to privatise the Trust, lead to immediate price increases for consumers, the loss of ongoing revenue for the state budget and lead to the cancellation of proposed interstate grid connections in order to protect the value of the newly private assets. By 2017 the privatisation had caused South Australia to have the highest electricity prices in the world.