Indeed, the $10.25 billion price tag far exceeded the $9 billion estimate being bandied about in the financial media in recent weeks.

Adhering to his strategy of accentuating the tangible benefits that will flow from asset sales under his watch, Baird was quick to point out on Wednesday that it meant "better transport, roads, schools and hospitals".

In truth, "stunning" might be equally applied to what the Premier has just pulled off in political terms.

By delivering the 99-year lease of Transgrid, Baird has trumped the unfulfilled ambitions of premiers and treasurers before him.

Securing the privatisation of Transgrid is a key plank in the construction of his personal political legacy and a crucial milestone in the ongoing fortunes of the government.

Baird might have avoided the politics in his remarks, but Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian did not.

"This not only is a huge tick of confidence in NSW for but also a huge tick for our government," she declared. "We took this [decision] courageously, through the leadership of the Premier, got the tick from the community and then took that responsibility so seriously that we worked hard day and night to get this [result]".

Baird's "stunning" result is all the more so for two other reasons: he unexpectedly dodged the politically dangerous issue of foreign ownership; and because it sends a strong signal he will be rolling in more cash than imagined.

As recently as this week, speculation was that Chinese government-owned electricity behemoth, State Grid Corporation of China, was a shoo-in to lodge the winning bid.

With this came warnings about the security implications of such a buyer, given Transgrid supplies power to Canberra and owns data cables carrying sensitive government information.

The issue had flared up during the election thanks to a campaign by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and was set to be reignited upon the announcement of a State Grid winning bid.

As it transpired the issue of foreign ownership – foreign investors from Canada, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait have a 65 per cent stake in the winning consortium – barely rated a mention.

Then there is the cash.

On announcing his electricity privatisation plans, Baird said the lease of all of Transgrid and 50.4 per cent of electricity distributors Ausgrid and Endeavour energy would deliver $13 billion in net proceeds.

With an anticipated $2 billion in incentive payments from the Commonwealth, the state would end up with $15 billion which, via interest earned, it would parlay into $20 billion to fund his infrastructure program.

As recently as December, Baird's advisers on the sale, Deutsche Bank and UBS, had placed a $13.1 billion estimated "market value" on all three privatisations.

The consensus is that the Transgrid result has boosted expectations significantly upwards. It alone has delivered a net $7 billion, after just over $3 billion of debt is repaid, with Ausgrid and Endeavour to come.

The result has validated the view of the government and its advisers that the market is hungry for such investments – particularly after the electricity privatisation plans of Campbell Newman's Queensland government went up in smoke.

On Wednesday, Baird conceded it was "a good start". But even he would admit that challenges remain.

Securing the cash is key to Baird's infrastructure strategy, but its continued success depends on how it is delivered. On time and on budget is the mantra, but plenty of governments have tripped at this hurdle.

There are also residual dangers in handing over electricity assets to the private sector, not the least of which is the risk of escalating prices.

The Australian Energy Regulator's latest decision locks in the revenue that may be raised through prices by the new private owners until 2019. It has screwed down the allowances, ensuring prices will be lower than the previous regulatory period.

But after that there will be a new revenue determination which will test warnings from Labor and unions that private operators will be more successful in convincing the regulator to allow higher prices.

Even a government as popular as Baird's would have great difficulty explaining a blow out in electricity bills as a consequence of their decision to hand over the businesses to private enterprise.

This is presumably why Opposition Leader Luke Foley was playing the long game following the Transgrid announcement.

"I think the Canadian and Middle Eastern fund managers may well be the world's nicest fund managers," Foley said. "But somehow I don't think they're buying our electricity grid to lower families' power prices in NSW over the next 99 years."