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BY MATT JOHNSTON AND KIERAN ROONEY
Gas phase-out plan for Victoria revealed
The Andrews government has revealed its plan to phase out residential gas use in Victoria, but not everyone is satisfied with the roadmap.
This is what the plan entails.
Households will be offered a $2600 rebate to switch from gas heating to an efficient electric system under the Victorian government's plan.
New homes built in Victoria will no longer have to be connected to the gas network in a bid to shift more people to renewables and reduce the state’s carbon footprint.
But the cost to switch over all appliances and hot water systems from gas to electric at one time won't come cheap – with an average $15,500 needed even with new rebates in place.
To give households a choice about when and whether to make the switch, no timeframe has been given for slashing residential gas use, which is designed to show how the state can “decarbonise”.
But the government's plan has met some resistance. Gas Energy Australia chief executive Brett Heffernan criticised the roadmap, describing it as “full of potholes”.
With coal-fired power shutting down, renewables simply are not filling the breach. We need clean gas more than ever and will well into the future or else the lights will go out.
  BRETT HEFFERNAN Gas Energy Australia chief  
“
The government hopes the new $2600 Victorian Energy Upgrade rebates, which are paid for by consumers through energy bills, will provide enough incentive – alongside skyrocketing gas prices.
But social services groups say the roadmap is missing details about how vulnerable families who can’t afford electrification would be supported, while environment groups said the plan was the “bare minimum”.
Gas industry groups also savaged the plan as “philosophy over fact”, but Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said she had the balance right.
Ms D’Ambrosio said the energy source used by almost four in five households in Victoria was “no longer the cheap fuel it once was”.
Victorians have been at the mercy of private gas companies for too long, it’s time to put gas on the backburner as we help Victorians cut energy bills and halve emissions by 2030.
  LILY D'AMBROSIO Victorian Energy Minister 
“
Producer: Andrew Piva																																								

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/web-stories/free/herald-sun/victorian-government-reveals-gas-phase-out-plan