Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ plan to revive the taxpayer-owned State Electricity Commission has been criticised as “very unwise” and one which will be almost impossible to make work in practice because minority investors holding a proposed 49 per cent stake will want a decent return.

Graeme Bevans, the chief executive of toll road developer Atlas Arteria, said the Andrews plan, where the Victorian government would own a 51 per cent stake of a new SEC, ignores the commercial realities, and is unlikely to end up lowering power prices for consumers.