What the assets are worth now depends on the future path of electricity prices and the effect that has on the company's cashflows, writes Brian Fallow.

The Government will have to bump up the sweeteners to get enough mum and dad investors to buy into Meridian Energy, an analyst says.

Meridian Energy, New Zealand's biggest and most profitable power company, will be partially privatised later this year, Finance Minister Bill English confirmed in yesterday's Budget.

The Government will waste no time selling down Meridian Energy with Treasury officials expected to meet investment bankers on Monday.

Senior executives of newly listed, state-controlled Mighty River Power are in line for shares in lieu of cash bonuses worth $1.2 million for the year to June 30.

Editorial: Naturally enough, the Government was keen to put the entire blame for what happened on "politicking" by Labour and the Greens.

At 10 o'clock in the morning it is briefly quiet inside the Northland house which is also a small power station.

The Government has set a price range of $2.35 to $2.80 per share for the partial privatisation of Mighty River Power.

Prospects of keeping the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter open in the long-term are grim, with Meridian Energy saying it is still in the dark.

Contact's share price dropped this morning, partly in response to uncertainty over the future of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.

Prime Minister John Key says the government has "put its best foot forward" and will offer Rio Tinto no more than the short-term subsidy offered last week.

Rio Tinto is doubtless more than happy that the Government has stepped in to try to broker a deal over the electricity supply contract for the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter.

Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter's owners have contradicted a report from Meridian, saying they think a power deal can be agreed on.

Potential investors in Mighty River Power, Genesis Energy and Meridian will be exposed to the financial impacts caused by any new charges linked to water or geothermal use and land resumption.

The state-owned electricity generator and retailer yesterday reported an underlying net profit after tax of $88 million for the latest half-year after non-cash items

Meridian Energy says it's ready for partial privatisation and expects a significant uplift in operating earnings after transmission outages knocked its performance.

It is folly to press on with the partial privatisation of the state-owned power companies when the future of the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter is unresolved, writes Brian Fallow.

Meridian Energy is considering the sale of its 50 per cent stake in the A$1 billion Macarthur wind farm in Australia.