The stoush is happening as the Queensland government calls for comment on electricity supply options for the North West Minerals Province, with three options on the table, business as usual mainly supplied by APA's Diamantina, the private proposal to build the $2.5b CopperString 2.0, and building the project through the government's own Powerlink.

In their submission APA Group called the proposed CopperString transmission project in north Queensland "a 40-year electricity tax on mums and dads" but Copperstring hit back in their submission saying users would save 40pc on current APA prices.

Copperstring were supported by local MP Robbie Katter who slammed APA as a greedy company with a fossil-fuel energy monopoly in North West Queensland.

But now the EUAA, the peak body representing Australian commercial and industrial energy users, said they supported the current national rules framework to assess the economic viability of proposed network investments and said Options 2 and 3 (either Copperstring or Powerlink to build a new transmission network did not pass that test and required "substantial cross-subsidies from all (small and large) Queensland electricity consumers outside of the North West Minerals Province to large users in the NWMP."

The EUAA said ensuring a competitive market at Mount Isa for the provision of secure electricity supply was a desirable objective.

"The limited information provided in the Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement suggests that a modified version of Option 1 - which requires no subsidy from users outside of the NWMP - may be the best way to achieve that objective applying the CRIS criteria of equity, cost-effectiveness and practicality," it said in its submission.

But it went on to say that if the government decide a physical connection was required to the National Electricity Market, "then we would prefer Option 3", that is getting the government-owned Powerlink to build the line not privately-owned Copperstring "given the lower level of cross-subsidy flowing from application of the national rules."

It said Option 1 (leave Mount Isa isolated from NEM) could deliver a power price in the NWMP equal to or better than Options 2 and 3 which would both "involve a significant and uncapped shift of risk from the equity participants and large users in the NWMP to small and large electricity consumers in the rest of Queensland".

The EUAA was also critical of the state government's lack of definition of what is "affordable power", the absence of detailed information in the relatively short CRIS and the lack of a public forum for the NWMP Options Team to make a presentation and stakeholders to ask questions.

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