Electrifying Australia: How smart policy can protect households and retire gas networks fairly

Energy comes into our homes in two ways – through the electricity network, plus gas pipelines that must be maintained even when they sit half empty. Families are essentially paying for gas pipes to simply exist.

As households electrify, gas use is falling. That’s good for climate and health, but it leaves fewer customers to cover the cost of maintaining billions of dollars in infrastructure.

By around 2033, the customers still connected to gas could be forced to shoulder most of the escalating pipeline costs.

Climateworks Australia calculates this could double their energy burden.

This isn’t just inefficien – it’s unfair. It will quickly become a political flashpoint as lower-income households are left carrying the bill, and increased gas costs would increase pressure on our industries.

This is the moment for governments to begin planning for an orderly phase-out of gas distribution, with policies to electrify.

The low-hanging fruit Australians understand

Australians installing solar know what works – taking control of energy costs by switching to cheaper, cleaner electricity.

The federal battery rebate proves it. Since launching in July, uptake has surged to five-and-a-half times higher than last year, three times faster than the Australian Energy Market Operator expected. This follows our rooftop solar success, which saw millions of households transform their own energy supply.

Together, solar and batteries reveal our household electrification advantage – when policy provides clear direction, Australians move faster than anyone predicted.

Climateworks Centre analysis shows electrification is one of the fastest, lowest-cost steps to cut emissions, reduce bills and create healthier homes (gas homes have air pollution linked to asthma and cancer risks). This is the low-hanging fruit – and voters already understand it.

Lessons from California

Having recently returned from a trip to California, I saw first-hand why Australia must act early. California has been grappling with declining gas demand for more than a decade, and California’s new law, SB 1221, is designed to better-manage this change by focusing on transitioning communities from natural gas to zero-emissions solutions such as electrification and thermal energy networks.

From 2026, Californian utilities can designate up to 30 “neighbourhood decarbonisation zones” where households switch to all-electric systems together, pipelines are retired, and nobody is left stranded with the costs. It also requires mapping gas assets, annual reporting and pilot programs to test the approach.

The lesson for Australia is simple – there ’s still time to do this in a coordinated way, but only if that work starts now. Further delay risks stranded assets, unfair cost shifts and industries relocating under the weight of rising prices.

California’s complexity, Australia’s edge

California’s energy system is complex. The state has endured catastrophic wildfires, is home to an ageing network, has limited interconnection with other states, and has managed patchy reform. Yet even under these pressures, it’s moving away from gas.

Australia’s case is stronger. The policy settings are more flexible, and higher gas costs make electrification the obvious economic choice. With households driving the shift, the country can build on this momentum.

Australia’s competitive advantage

This is where Australia can leapfrog. A competitive advantage in household electrification rests on several pillars:

● Supply chains built from a decade of solar deployment now delivering batteries, appliances and installation at scale

● Workforce readiness, with apprenticeships and retraining preparing electricians and tradies for the electrification boom

● Small-business innovation, where local installers and firms are thriving, creating jobs and new industries

● Policy action and certainty, demonstrated by Victoria’s gas bans and the ACT’s phase-out timelines, giving markets confidence

● Consumer appetite, as Australians embrace clean technologies faster than any forecast predicted

Our battery boom proves Australia’s competitive edge: When policy clears the path, households move faster than anyone expected.

What next?

With clear national planning, Australia can channel this advantage to retire gas networks in an orderly way, protect vulnerable households, and safeguard industry competitiveness. To seize this opportunity, Australia can:

● continue battery and solar rebates, locking in household momentum

● align grid upgrades, workforce training and consumer support, to build confidence and pilot neighbourhood-scale gas transitions, adapted from SB 1221

● plan and map pipeline retirements, so consumers aren’t paying for assets they don’t use.

Act now to protect Australians

A rapid and orderly phase out of gas is not a distant challenge – it’s this decade’s challenge. Without a plan, households will pay spiralling costs to maintain pipelines they no longer need, effectively subsidising industry and doubling their energy bills.

The good news is that this outcome can be avoided. Rooftop solar adoption and now the battery rollout show that Australia can move faster than expected. Supply chains, a skilled workforce and small businesses are ready.

With clear national policy, Australia can protect households, grow new industries and show the world how to phase out gas fairly.

Australia doesn’t need to catch up – it's already ahead. Now is the time to lead.