In the midst of a cost of living crisis, switching away from gas can save thousands per year. Recent analysis from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) estimated that Victorians would collectively save $876 million every year if all the new appliances installed were efficient electric instead of gas.
The price of gas has tripled in Victoria in the past decade and with dwindling gas supplies in Bass Strait and no other options for affordable supply, it will only keep going up.
It’s not surprising that nearly one in four Victorian households are planning to cancel their gas supply in the next decade, as a new survey from Energy Consumers Australia showed recently.
Still more analysis from Springmount Advisory found that electrifying and insulating homes can save the average household around $1500 per year. The savings double to $3000 per year when solar and batteries are added, putting people well and truly in control of their energy bills.
When the Allan government released its plans in December to phase out broken gas heaters and gas hot water services from Victorian homes, the response from sections of the gas lobby was swift. They paid for a front page advertorial in the Herald Sun claiming that consumers could be slugged with a $5bn bill to cover the costs of switching from gas to electric appliances.
The “exclusive” report (paid for by the gas industry) conveniently ignored the geological reality that gas supplies are dwindling in Victoria by simply focusing on the cost of electric upgrades. They ignored the fact that regardless of gas or electric, all replacements cost money, and also deliberately omitted the subsidies available to consumers and the reality that the cost of switching will pay for itself from much lower overall energy bills.
Keeping us hooked on gas is lucrative for the gas industry. One quarter of the fixed costs on every residential gas bill goes straight to gas network profits. Half of this amount is super-profit, further padding the pockets of their shareholders.
The gas industry is not about to give up those profits without a fight. They have a heavily vested interest in maintaining the status quo selling a diminishing, polluting, expensive and unhealthy product for as long as possible.
The gas lobbyists have spent the last two decades resisting energy labelling on appliances that would allow people to make informed choices between gas and electric options. Whenever there is public discussion of the health dangers of cooking with gas, they flood us with more advertising. So when the gas industry now cries “consumer choice” it is hard to take them seriously.
Fortunately, the gas lobby is running out of friends. Many businesses and industry groups recognise that electrification of households is the fastest and cheapest way to decarbonise our economy and create breathing room for the large gas users that need more time to adjust. This is why the electrification measures that the Victorian government is currently suggesting are so sensible.
Everyday Victorians, too, are out in force swapping tips and tricks for electrifying on any budget and sharing stories of lower bills and better respiratory health. From the tens of thousands of people participating in the My Efficient Electric Home Facebook group to the many Electrify groups that have popped up in places like Wangaratta, Ballarat and all around Melbourne, things are well and truly changing.
No-one will be required to go out tomorrow and buy a new heater or hot water service, but when the old gas-powered clunkers break down this policy would effectively break the cycle of reinstalling polluting 1980s era technology in Victorian homes.
Despite attempts on the part of the gas lobby to rile up the community on gas, the Allan government’s plan is a commonsense approach that responds to the realities of sky-rocketing gas prices and diminishing supplies. And if Victoria gets this right, other states will follow suit.
Right now, Victoria is at a turning point and doing nothing is not an option. It might be the best opportunity we’ll get to break free from the gas industry once and for all.
Kat Lucas-Healey is Senior Climate & Energy Advisor for Environment Victoria