This was done when the local (municipal) and provincial electricity companies were split into a network and a generating entity. It was supposed to bring more transparency and create a market, in fact it brought a lot of graft and trickery. At a guess the actual costs were a fraction because those companies were already paid for aeons ago (they were public property, and then got privatized so we were allowed to rent back the infrastructure that we already owned...).<p>Short term thinking at its best.