ANY chance of full-on power privatisation died yesterday, with the Opposition refusing to give the Government the support it needed to get the legislation through Parliament.

And after wearing all the political cost of defeat on the issue twice in a decade, the ALP is not going to hand the Coalition the bipartisan support it would need in government any time in the future.

It is, afterall, Liberal policy to privatise - despite the party's current resistance. And the Liberals will take this policy to the next election, but it will not see the light of day. As a result, NSW is faced with a downgrade to its AAA credit rating in the next few years, as it struggles with rising spending on its ailing infrastructure - and as it touts itself as the financial capital of Australia.

Yet it will have a credit rating below that of all other mainland states, making it less competitive as it seeks to secure finance at interest rates higher than those offered to most other states.

Even if the Coalition formed government in the 2011 election, winning a 50 per cent share of the primary vote, this would not be sufficient to give it control of the upper house, leaving it needing Labor support to get privatisation through Parliament.

"It would take an enormous swing for the Opposition to win control of the Legislative Council," the ABC election analyst Antony Green said. "It's virtually out of the question, even if they got 50 per cent of the primary vote."

This could see the Opposition win a further four seats, to 19 out of the 42 seats in the house. But even with the support of the Christian Democrats, they would still need to negotiate with other cross-bench parties to get legislation through Parliament.

The Premier yesterday unveiled a watered-down energy strategy, with the intent of winning some level of private investment in the retail sector and by selling sites for potential power station development.

These measures do not require legislation. But, crucially, the state has been forced to retain government-owned power generation companies because of the Opposition's stance. And the Government claims that decision has put a $15 billion hole in the state's finances.