I see that Sydney City Council now wants to ban gas connections in all new homes and some businesses, an all electrification trend that just seems to keep growing.
Victoria got the ball rolling with a gas ban from January 1 next year but the ACT and some councils like Waverley in Sydney have also banned using gas appliances in new constructions.
Electrifying everything—its backers say—will cut greenhouse emissions, save consumers money and could even be a lot healthier given research saying gas stoves release pollutants and contribute to illnesses like asthma.
Till now it’s an issue that few Australians have been aware of, but that’s about to change in a big way.
The Federal Government has now created a Senate Enquiry into “Residential Electrification” which will report by late next year. The committee is expected to look at how electrification can help consumers cut costs as well as how governments and industry can help ease the transition from gas. In other words electrification is here to stay.
We have already provided a submission—and you can too by September 29—where we supported electrification of Australian homes, and in particular argued for the upsizing of electrical cables in homes to improve efficiencies & cut electrical losses.
We draw on new research we’ve done on the economic benefits of upsizing electrical cables in homes that are having battery energy systems installed. We’ve also asked the Green Building Council of Australia to support developing tools so electricians can apply Economic Cable Sizing—ECS— to residential homes as part of the BASIX and Green Tag programs.
Many experts are saying the change is inevitable and the Grattan Institute recently called on each state and territory government to set a date for the end of gas. Not everyone agrees of course but you can bet this issue is only going to get hotter.
Cheers, John Fennell