How we’re blowing out gas – state by state, council by council, stove by stove

There is growing momentum from government in a number of states to ban gas connections in new residential builds, for health and environmental reasons. And in NSW commercial buildings are targeted.

It should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention to the gas sector that the Master Plumbers Association of NSW last week denounced a local government in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for banning gas in new residential construction

With no reference to climate change, the media release thundered about “unwarranted overreach” from Waverley Council that disregarded “property owners’ rights” and undermined “the principles of choice and innovation within the building industry”.

The association’s fear that the gas taps might soon be turned off is not completely unfounded. There is growing momentum from government in a number of states to ban gas connections in new residential builds, for health and environmental reasons.

In Sydney, Canterbury Bankstown Council last year included plans to ban gas fittings in new apartments in its City Master Plan. That plan is now being assessed by the Department of Planning.

In Victoria, Australia’s largest gas consuming state with more than 2 million homes using it for cooking and hot water, at least 13 councils want to stop new developments connecting to gas.

Waverley finds a way through

But it’s Waverley Council’s innovative approach that could prove a useful model for other local governments. Its residential gas ban was part of the air quality regulations in its 2022 Development Control Plan, which came into effect 7 December last year.

There’s growing evidence that cooking and heating our homes with gas is bad for our health but what’s interesting about Waverley’s regulations is that they can’t be overridden by state planning laws.

Gas cooktops, gas ovens or gas internal space heating systems are now banned in any new residential development in the local government area. Instead, the council wants electric systems installed and clearly marked on development applications.

Other sustainability measures included

The regulation was among a number of other new and revised provisions in the DCP, including a requirement that new homes have high-performance glazing on windows and skylights, ceiling fans be installed in all habitable rooms, vegetation to be used for cooling, and roofs to be light coloured.

Certain new developments must now include electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and all homes must have designs for future all-electric capacity and power from renewable energy.

The ACT is out in front

When it comes to state and territory governments, the ACT is well out in front. In June its Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Natural Gas Transition) Amendment Bill was passed through the Legislative Assembly to establish the legal framework to end new gas network connections.

Strathnairn, the first suburb planned by Ginninderry, (a joint venture between the ACT and Riverview Developments) was Canberra’s first all-electric suburb but it was a tough fight to get there. Back in 2016, the ACT government’s Territory Plan included a mandatory requirement for gas connections to all homes.

Ginninderry argued the no-gas case before ACT government departments, the region’s electricity provider, and industry peak bodies conducted telephone surveys, held educational workshops and modelled the cost benefits of Strathnairn’s solar PV homes versus a standard suburb with gas and electricity.

Victoria on tippy toes

In Victoria the state government is tip-toeing its way through an update of its Gas Substitution Road Map first launched last year, which removed the requirement for all new homes to be connected to gas networks, and which began phasing out incentives to have gas.

The Victorian Greens are pressuring the government to ban all new homes from having gas connections.

NSW moves on commercial buildings

There’s no move yet on the NSW residential scene but in October the state government is expected to release a new state environmental planning policy that will cover some commercial builds (hotels, motels, serviced apartments and state significant non-residential developments) that will stipulate that if fossil fuels are used for energy supply, the developer will have to design the building so that it can operate without gas.

Developers will also have to pay heavily for gas offsets for 10 years, according to David Clark, director of Positive Zero who is writing a guidance on the developments. It’s not an outright gas ban but the rules would make connecting to gas highly unattractive, he told The Fifth Estate.

Grattan Institute is clear – Australia needs to get off gas

Australia will not hit its 2050 net-zero emissions target unless it gets off natural gas, according to a recent Grattan Institute report. The Institute admits it won’t be easy for governments or residents “but delaying action will only make it more so”.

Its research shows about five million Australian households are connected to gas and in Victoria 200 homes will have to cut their connection every day until 2045 to achieve net zero.

To make it happen, supply chains will need to be strengthened, job skills upgraded and residents educated about the benefits of going electric and supported with financial incentives to retrofit those homes that already have gas cooking and heating.

The Global Cooksafe Coalition which recently appointed new Australian program manager Virginia Jones is targeting consumers and property developers with the recent announcement that Frasers Property Australia, Cbus Property, Barangaroo’s International Towers and the Powerhouse Museum group have joined GPT and Lendlease in plans to exist gas.

The equity issue is critical

Then there’s the question of energy equity. Recently published research from the Brotherhood of St Laurence suggests policymakers will need to pay particular attention to two key barriers for the shift from gas: lower-income households unable to afford the high upfront cost of buying new electric appliances, and renters feeling they have little or no say over what appliances are installed in their homes.

Appliance manufacturers and installers will be the first hit by any bans via loss of sales and less work installing gas appliances.

Many plumbers have at least basic electrical qualifications and should expect to get new work from the installation of heat pumps and other green appliances.

But as one energy expert told The Fifth Estate, it’s a complicated sector in its own right, with plumbing regulations differing across jurisdictions, and plenty of politics.

Meanwhile, network operators, worried about the value of their assets, have been lobbying all levels of government to keep the gas turned on. They’ve also been holding out some candy to consumers.

In June, the Nature Conservation Council accused network operator Jemena Energy of blatantly undermining Victorian and NSW government policies designed to move away from gas by offering customers cash incentives to switch appliances in their homes to polluting methane gas. 

 “Jemena is locking in carbon pollution by continuing to connect appliances in homes to fossil fuel gas infrastructure,” Dr Brad Smith, NCC Policy and Advocacy Director said at the time.

Looks like the fight’s not over yet.

Related