Equitable Electrification and Transitions Away from Gas
Equitable Electrification and Transitions Away from Gas
To meet emissions reductions targets, governments across the world are considering when and how to move away from gas to non-fossil fuel energy sources, including in Victoria, Australia (see Victoria’s Gas Substitution Roadmap). Electrifying homes can help to lower household energy bills and emissions. However, the cost and effort required to convert from gas to electric appliances is challenging for many households, particularly those on low incomes and renters.
Our research explores the views of households about moving from gas to electricity as home energy sources, the barriers they face and supports they would like, and the implications for policy to achieve equitable solutions.
This research provides both the numbers, stories and lived experience of lower income and vulnerable households to inform policy, regulatory and commercial decision-making.
Through surveys and interviews, this research is capturing real household experiences, concerns, and what matters in this energy transition, including:
Enabling Electrification: Supporting Households to Switch from Gas
The challenge
Many households want to switch from gas to electric appliances to save money and help the environment but face real barriers in making this change.
What we found
Renters often can’t get permission from landlords to upgrade appliances
Homeowners struggle with upfront costs, even though they’d save money over time
Many people don’t know about programs that could help them
Different households need different kinds of support
What we did
We surveyed and interviewed Victorian households experiencing energy vulnerability to understand what’s stopping them from electrifying their homes.
What needs to change
Lower-income households need financial subsidies, better information and advice, rental market reforms, and easier access to solar panels and energy efficiency upgrades to make the switch successfully.
This research was funded by Energy Consumers Australia as part of its grants process for consumer advocacy projects and research projects for the benefit of consumers of electricity and natural gas. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Energy Consumers Australia.
Pruning Gas, Powering Communities: Social Factors in Area Level Electrification
A report for Balancing Act: Rethinking gas network spending
The challenge
Gas networks require expensive upgrades and replacements. Households pay for these upgrades through their bills. Victorian gas networks will spend more than half a billion dollars upgrading gas pipelines from 2023-28. These infrastructure upgrades could be redundant within the next 20 years.
Is it socially feasible to electrify entire neighbourhoods or streets to avoid upgrading or replacing gas pipelines?
What we did
We surveyed and interviewed households in two Victorian local government areas and asked them:
Are you supportive of this approach? Do you think your neighbours would participate?
Who should pay for household electrification upgrades?
What are the barriers and enablers of this approach?
Contrasting communities
The two sites offered a contrast allowing useful insights to be drawn across settings.
St Albans, a suburb in Melbourne’s west where residents received little to no additional support
What we found
Attitudes to electrification: Strong support for moving away from gas – but more cautious about electrification at their local level
Mandating vs. choice: Most households opposed forcing reluctant neighbours to switch, citing fairness, cost, and resistance to top-down decisions
Who should pay: Views were mixed: a government–electricity industry partnership, subsidised individual contributions, or shared costs across gas and electricity networks
Barriers and enablers: Financial assistance helps but isn’t enough. Households need trusted, end-to-end support. Even with comprehensive support (financial and non-financial) in place, households provided valid reasons why they did not want to electrify
The Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) has initiated a research project, Balancing Act, to investigate how much gas network spending could be avoided and diverted to assist households, especially those facing disadvantage, to move away from fossil fuels by electrifying their homes. The project has three parts:developing a framework for fairly shrinking the gas network conducted by BSL; a cost-benefit analysis conducted by Energeia; and social research to understand the barriers and enablers of electrifying households at a local level.
This research was funded by Energy Consumers Australia as part of its grants process for consumer advocacy projects and research projects for the benefit of consumers of electricity and natural gas. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Energy Consumers Australia.
Electri-FAIR-cation: Amplifying the Customer Voice in Electrification
About the Electri-FAIR-cation program
Location & scope: A targeted initiative in Morwell, Victoria providing fully funded home electrification upgrades to ~60 households
Comprehensive upgrades: Replaced gas appliances with new electric appliances and energy efficiency upgrades, and tailored to the needs of each household
End-to-end coordination: A dedicated program coordinator managed home assessments, quotes, and installation schedules
Investigating how low-income, vulnerable, and renting households navigate the shift off gas
Moving beyond technical feasibility to understand and amplify real-world customer journeys, health impacts, and financial behaviours
Gathering empirical evidence to support the design of scalable, equitable electrification models
Key outcomes
9.5/10 Household Satisfaction End-to-end support made the transition stress-free
100% preferred electric post-installation After trying their new systems, all households preferred electric appliances
Significantly warmer and cooler Draught-proofing and reverse-cycle air conditioning improved thermal comfort, particularly during winter
100% fully funded upgrades All appliance and energy efficiency upgrades were covered, including essential hidden costs (e.g., switchboard upgrades)
“The Electri-FAIR-cation model proves that technical upgrades and financial assistance alone are insufficient for vulnerable households; success requires a human-centric approach led by trusted intermediaries.”
Local networks (GCCN and Morwell Neighbourhood House) built community trust and overcome scepticism
Dedicated coordination
A single point of contact managed end-to-end delivery, removing decision fatigue and logistics stress
Targeted equity
Full funding and tailored support ensured lower-income homeowners and renters weren’t left behind
The Changing Gas Landscape: Unforeseen Shutdowns
Regional Victoria
What’s happening?
In August 2025, Solstice Energy announced it would close its gas network across 10 regional Victorian towns by mid-to-late 2026. Over 1,000 customers will be affected.
Ten regional towns across Victoria will be cut from the gas network in 2026.
In November 2025, we attended public information sessions in Orbost and Lakes Entrance where customers shared their experiences. For Gippsland residents, disconnection comes as early as July 2026.
A summary of these customer perspectives have been compiled, revealing a complex situation driven by:
In September 2021, the Esperance Gas Distribution Company announced it would stop supplying gas to the town of Esperance in Western Australia. 400 customers were affected, including 312 residential homes. The state-owned electricity utility, Horizon Power, provided financial and non-financial support to help customers transition away from reticulated gas.
9 out of 10 chose a full or partial electrification solution.
The gas network was successfully shut down on March 31, 2023.
Customer satisfaction post implementation was 94%.
