Power sell-off 'good for bill payers'

Leasing the state's poles and wires will put downward pressures on prices, a new report has found.

The Grattan Institute report shows that households in states with privatised electricity networks have faced smaller price rises over the past 20 year than those in other states.

The report's findings, obtained by The Australian newspaper on Wednesday, will be a boost for NSW Premier Mike Baird who is pushing his privatisation plans as he heads to the state election on March 28.

The analysis shows retail electricity prices have risen more in Sydney and Brisbane than in Melbourne and Adelaide, where the Victorian and later South Australian governments had privatised the industry over the past 20 years.

"Privately owned businesses run at lower cost to the benefit of consumers," the Grattan Institute's energy director, Tony Wood, told the paper.

Mr Baird wants to lease 49 per cent of the NSW electricity network for 99 years for about $13 billion, helping create a $20 billion infrastructure fund.

The Labor opposition and unions say privatisation will forego hundreds of millions in public income each year from ownership and will result in higher prices and worse service as owners pursue profits.