Overview
As Australia moves away from household gas, the risks of an unmanaged transition are falling hardest on those with the least capacity to pay. Households that cannot afford to electrify, or who face other barriers, could be left paying a growing share of gas network costs as others disconnect.
ECA funded the Brotherhood of St Laurence to undertake research to understand how to make the transition away from gas cheaper and fairer for households facing disadvantage. Their report, Balancing Act, recommended gas network pruning – also known as strategic decommissioning – to address this, and was the first public economic analysis of its kind in Australia. This approach targets local areas where ageing gas pipes are due for replacement, supports homes to switch from gas to efficient electric appliances, and retires the local gas network instead of rebuilding it.
The report found that in a small resident area with around 800 residents, electrifying homes would save society $3.3 million compared to conducting business-as-usual gas upgrades. The largest benefit comes from avoiding gas network replacement spending. The research is now supporting advocacy for a fairer gas transition, including calls for governments and regulators to develop pruning frameworks and prioritise fully funded electrification upgrades for low-income households.
Key Recommendations
Pruning in Australia should be implemented in the following ways:
- Governments and regulators should develop and operationalise a process to avoid further gas network spending where it can be avoided through electrification, in line with our implementation considerations described above.
- Regulators should undertake a review of the availability of gas network information with a view to increasing transparency.
Additional complementary gas network policies include:
- Regulators should initiate a review of gas network planning processes to make them fit for purpose for a declining gas network, considering scenarios for a gas network death spiral and for non-network solutions to replacement expenditure.
- State/territory governments should ban new home gas connections as soon as possible where this has not already occurred.
- State/territory governments should investigate banning new commercial connections where viable.
- State/territory governments should phase out the sale of new gas appliances to existing homes.
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Available grants
Our grants program funds research and advocacy initiatives that further the interests of Australian household and small business energy consumers. Grants and scholarships are available to support small and large projects, organisations and individuals, with application rounds opening at key points across the year.