Six of the seven candidates for the seat of Dubbo attended the event where about 100 people gathered to hear election promises and ask their questions.

The privatisation was one of the issues raised, alongside palliative care, crime rates, TAFE and the duplication of the LH Ford Bridge.

When asked from an audience member about the lease, Mr Grant said it would generate $20 billion, $6 billion of which would be spent in regional NSW.

"This is only indicative, it could go to market and get us a lot more, it could get us less and then we probably won't proceed," he said.

The coalition plans to lease 49 per cent of the electricity network to private companies - 100 per cent of Transgrid and 50.4 per cent of both Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy.

Essential Energy will remain completely state-owned.

"We're not selling or giving away anything, we're liquidating a percentage of a public asset to make it better in order to build and buy other assets for you that will make your life better and help drive the economy," Mr Grant said.

Country Labor candidate Stephen Lawrence, independents Col Hamilton and Rod Pryor, Christian Democratic Party candidate Peter Scherer and Greens candidate Matt Parmeter all said they did not support the lease.

Mr Hamilton said infrastructure should stay in public control and could only lead to job losses and increased electricity costs if privatised.

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Mr Pryor was critical of where the revenue from the lease would be spent.

"If I had a great big money chest and was able to sell off the poles and wires I would have unlimited vision for what I would do," he said.

"Twenty billion dollars is a very significant amount of money and I wouldn't be investing it in Sydney's infrastructure to get people home three or five minutes earlier."

Mr Lawrence said privatisation was the big issue of the election.

"It's about whether we should sell off a monopoly state asset which is earning us a lot of money in order to get a short term sugar hit," he said.

"The revenue problem is not addressed by the short term sugar hit."

While Mr Scherer didn't have much to say about privatisation, he said his message was people reaped what they sowed.

He said the CDP promoted peace and understanding for everyone to live in harmony.

For Mr Pryor, drug rehabilitation centres and a drug court were both high on his list as priorities for Dubbo.

He said independents were not permitted to toe the party line and as such were more able to serve regional communities.

Mr Parmeter said he was more focused on the long term view and summed up his party by saying they were about caring for the people and the planet.

Tackling crime and addressing the city's health needs were the two big areas of concern for Mr Lawrence, who said he hoped people would think of him as capable of solving problems.

Meanwhile, Mr Hamilton warned people not to be persuaded by "sugary election promises" and said people should instead be focusing on what services were being cut.