Surprising reason more Aussies choosing gas

A new industry report reveals more Australians than ever are using gas in the home, despite greenie campaigns - but there are concerns they could end up paying more for it.

Aussies are opting for gas connections in their homes at record numbers, with the latest industry report showing gas companies in NSW, Victoria and South Australia have more customers now than they did two years ago.

This comes despite concerted campaigning from environmental groups calling on Aussies to ditch their gas kitchens and heaters in favour of electric alternatives, as well as bans on new gas connections implemented in the ACT and Victoria.

Six gas companies participate in the voluntary quarterly Gas Disconnection Report, compiled by the Australian Energy Regulator. The latest report shows the Jemena Gas Network in NSW has added 35,000 customers in under two years (a rise of 2.3 per cent), while AGN in SA has an extra 9000 and three Victorian companies (AGN, Ausnet and Multinet) collectively added 38,000.

Only in the ACT, which banned new gas connections late last year, have customer numbers dipped, by just under 4000.

Jemena spokesperson Michael Pintabona said customers “are worried about the risk of blackouts as the energy system decarbonises and they consider gas, alongside other energy sources, as having an important role to play in our energy mix.”

Customers were also supportive of moves to bring down the emissions of gas through initiatives like biomethane blends in the supply, Mr Pintabona said.

But Dan Cass from the group Rewiring Australia said increases in residential gas customers are “minuscule and getting smaller”.

“We know electrification is winning the energy wars because over 3.7 million households have already gone solar, and hundreds of thousands are now rushing to electrify,” Mr Cass said. “The problem is the gas lobby has captured governments and energy regulators who should be knocking down barriers to households going solar and electric.”

Dan Cass, Executive Director of Rewiring Australia. Picture: Supplied

Tennant Reed, Director of Climate Change and Energy at AI Group. Picture: Supplied

Tennant Reed, director of Climate Change and Energy at the Australian Industry Group, said the decision to go with gas was often a “developer choice rather than customer choice”.

A gas connection “has been a standard part of new residential developments for some time,” he said.

“If you’re buying off the plan, you’re probably going to get gas.”

Mr Reed said there was a concern that mass disconnections from the gas network could create higher prices for those who remained because energy companies would need to recoup their fixed costs from a shrinking customer base.

Godfrey Franz, sales director at Matrix Property pictured in the kitchen of The Residences at Wahroonga Estate. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Other customers were not disconnecting from the gas network, but were replacing individual appliances with electrical alternatives when they broke down, Mr Reed said.

“We are seeing a lot of installations of heat pump waters heaters in Victoria and NSW and those are really mounting up. So I think we are going to see a decline in the volume of gas used by households,” he said.

Matrix Property director Godfrey Franz, who is selling units in the luxe new Wahroonga Estate development on Sydney’s north shore, said gas hot water and cooktops were attractive propositions for many prospective buyers, because of their reliability and speed.

“We haven’t had anyone ask for electric on a cooktop. They take a long time to warm up and long time to cool down, whereas gas is instant heat,” he said.

Originally published as Surprising reason more Aussies choosing gas