AusNet's bid to increase gas charges highlights a fundamental issue: gas network operators are attempting to shift their poor business planning onto Victorian households. 

In its application to the Australian Energy Regulator, AusNet claims the ‘renewable gas path is now increasingly unlikely for Victorian households’, debunking its own claim that renewable gas will be a viable option in the future. 

For decades, the writing has been on the wall about the transition away from fossil fuels. Instead of preparing for this inevitable change, the gas pipeline operators have attempted to talk up their profitability with the fiction that everyone in the future will be cooking with green and affordable gas (green hydrogen or biomethane). 

They want to expand gas infrastructure to make higher profits, ignoring both clear market trends and policy signals. Now they want households – particularly those who can least afford it – to bail them out for misguided investments.

The solution isn't to burden Victorian families with higher bills to protect AusNet's bottom line. Rather, we need to accelerate support for households to switch to efficient electric appliances. This is the most effective way to shield vulnerable Victorians from spiralling gas costs while helping them transition to cheaper, cleaner energy alternatives

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(Photo by Henry Kobutra on Unsplash)

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