If successful, this will also threaten the reliability and safety of the network in regional NSW, according to the Greens.

The application comes less than 12 months after the NSW government passed legislation excluding the regional provider from their long term lease of the poles and wires. The National Party claimed that their successful bid to remove Essential Energy from the lease would protect jobs in rural and regional areas.

Greens NSW MP David Shoebridge said: “Cutting almost 1,000 jobs from a workforce of 3,800 will severely reduce network safety and reliability.

“This move to terminate the Enterprise Agreement puts thousands of Essential Energy employees at risk of losing their industrial rights to fair redundancy entitlements and even their basic wage rates.”

Essential Energy claims that it is one of the largest employers in regional and rural NSW, so the threats of widespread forced redundancies are deeply troubling, Shoebridge said.

“Essential Energy is a government owned corporation. Any job losses as a result of this application lie squarely at the feet of the Liberal- National government in NSW,” he said.

“This might look like a good idea to the bean counters in Macquarie Street but it means the loss of real jobs in the regions.”