The changes include a 16per cent increase or about $55,000 a year in the cost of maintaining existing lights, and a 6 to 7per cent increase each year in the cost of replacing street lights.

New street lights in Oran Park and Turner Road alone will add $282,000 a year to the council's bill.

The changes follow the privatisation of Integral Energy and the AER taking responsibility from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for regulating electricity distribution.

Camden Mayor Chris Patterson said

the huge changes would mean other council services might suffer.

``That is money that could be spent better elsewhere,'' he said. ``If we have to take $500,000 out of the budget to pay for electricity, that's money that could be spent on cleaning graffiti and maintenance of sporting fields and bike tracks and all the many things we do.''

Cr Patterson said it was too early to say whether the council would have to apply for a rate rise next year.

``It is something we would have to seriously assess,'' he said.

The council will write to Camden MP Geoff Corrigan to ask the State Government to help pay the new costs.

The council's director of development and environment, Sue Morris, said maintenance of street lights in new developments caused one of the biggest increases.

The developers put up and paid for street lighting in new developments, she said. It was then given to Integral Energy, which would charge Camden Council a tax of $300 for each light pole.

An Integral Energy spokesman said the costs were worked out on factors including design and installation.

``An annuity is then applied to recover these costs through the life of the column.''

The spokesman said such costs had been covered by Integral Energy and other public lighting customers but the council would now pay them as part of the AER's plan ``to recover the efficient costs of providing this service''.