ACT passes first law in Australia to ban gas in new homes

Gas will be banned in all new homes and businesses built in the ACT from early November. It makes the ACT the first Australian state or territory to prevent new gas connections.

The ACT government’s Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Natural Gas Transition) Amendment Bill establishes the legal framework to end new gas network connections.

Evoenergy, theTerritory’s gas distributor, estimates about 80 per cent of all new homes still connect to the fossil gas network so a ban on new builds will see a significant change to the ACT’s energy profile.

Over the 2019-2021period, Evoenergy reported 8,910 new connections – almost 3,000 new connections per year.

“The first step in phasing out gas completely is to prevent the installation of any new gas,” says ACT energy minister Shane Rattenbury.

Gas bans on new connections are also considered by a broad range of experts to be one of the fastest and cheapest ways to slash energy emissions and deliver cost of living relief.

In 2022 the ACT announced that all fossil fuel gas connections in the Territory – around 139,000 – will cease before 2045, the same date as the territory’s net zero emissions target.

Writing a gas ban into law puts the territory well ahead of the rest of Australia on electrification.

Victoria is not far behind with the State Labor government’s Gas Substitution Roadmap, which incentivises households to invest in efficient electric alternatives to gas for home heating and hot water.

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ACT electricity from 100% renewable sources

The ACT already sources all its electricity from 100 per cent renewables, which has protected households from big increases in energy bills.

The new bans will prohibit all new fossil fuel gas network connections in residential and commercial areas, with connections in industrial areas still allowed until a further regulation is made.

“We are already seeing a lot of disconnections off the gas network and many people are already making the changeover as they’re renovating their house because they’re really motivated by tackling their greenhouse gas emissions,” he says.

The high cost of gas and – in the ACT, at least – the cheaper cost of grid electricity as more renewables are added, makes the changeover a no-brainer.

“So we’re seeing a steady transition already. This legislation makes sure we’re getting no new connections. And we can focus on the retrofits that we need to do to ultimately get fossil fuel gas out of our ACT systems.”

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All-electric suburb

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Canberra has also made strong inroads on electrification, with the recent establishment of Ginninderry as its first all-electric suburb, and Jacka and future stages of Whitlam and Denman Prospect set to follow in coming years.

The policy push to electrification is supported by strong economic and climate benefits, particularly as the price of gas continues to rise.

Modelling fromRewiring Australia, headed up by Dr Saul Griffith, demonstrates that electrification with commercially-available technologies is the fastest, cheapest way to combat inflation and decarbonise the economy.

Griffith says replacing gas fired heating, water, cooktops and petrol/diesel cars with efficient electric alternatives and then powering them with rooftop solar can save householders between $3,000 and $5,000 a year.

“The Australian people have the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world, and they know that a small push from the government will allow them to go further by installing the batteries, electric cooktops, heaters and water systems that free them of fossil fuel emissions and bills,” Griffith said at the launch of a NSW pilot to electrify homes with existing gas connections.

“A small commitment now from the state governments and federal governments can actually release a huge saving for the nation down the road,” Griffith says.

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Gas lobby backlash

In response to the ACT's ban on new gas connections, the Master Plumbers Australia and New Zealand (MPANZ) is reported to have launched a national campaign against “a government-led push to rip out gas appliances.”

Master Plumbers Association NSW chief executive Nathaniel Smith told the Australian “thousands and thousands” of jobs will be lost through electrification, with companies specialising in gas ­fittings forced to shut. He described the ACT’s move as ­“absolute ­insanity”.

In response to the jobs claim, ACT Energy Minister Rattenbury says there will be a lot of work for plumbers and gas-fitters over the next few years – and even an increase in those jobs as consumers transition off the gas network.

Elsewhere, gas industry lobby groups have repeatedly used Frontier Economics modelling to launch electrification “cost shock” media offensives, including in August of last year and again this year in April.

But as Rattenbury notes, consumers are already making up their own minds, largely because of the high cost of gas and – in the ACT, at least – the cheaper cost of grid electricity as more renewables are added.

“We are already seeing a lot of disconnections off the gas network and many people are already making the changeover as they’re renovating their house because they’re really motivated by tackling their greenhouse gas emissions,” he says.

“So we’re seeing a steady transition already. This legislation makes sure we’re getting no new connections. And we can focus on the retrofits that we need to do to ultimately get fossil fuel gas out of our ACT systems.”

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This article was first published on RenewEconomy. You can read it here.