The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has opened consultation into a proposed amendment to the National Gas Rules, put forward by Energy Consumers Australia (ECA).
The proposed rule change would require developers and customers connecting to the gas network to pay the full upfront costs of connecting. Under the existing rules, the costs of connecting new customers to the gas network are shared among all gas customers.
ECA said that this rule change will ensure that those connection costs are not passed on to existing consumers who face barriers to leaving the gas network, for example, people who rent their homes. In addition, consumers will be able to see the real cost of a gas connection and assess if they wish to electrify instead, depending on their circumstances.
ECA CEO, Brendan French said that Australian residential and commercial gas use is expected to decline 72 per cent by 2043 and be largely non-existent by 2050
“In our latest national consumer survey, one-in-three homeowner households using mains gas said they will probably cancel their gas supply within the next ten years,” Dr French said.
“This transition will bring with it countless benefits as consumers who go all-electric will experience lower running costs, healthier homes and businesses – however, as more and more households leave the gas network, the network costs will be shared by an increasingly small pool of consumers.
“We’re calling for stakeholders to support our rule change amendment and ensure remaining gas consumers are not left paying an unaffordable share for maintaining the whole gas network.”
ECA said that this rule change is one of four submitted by the organisation aimed at helping protect consumers in the declining gas market and ensure an orderly transition.
Further details on the consultation are available on the AEMC’s website.
