Gas lobby bid to halt home electrification falls flat as Labor says it will stay the course - Renew Economy

Australia's gas industry has lobbied the federal government to slow home electrification policy, but Labor has signalled it will proceed with the transition away from gas heating and cooking. The government is continuing its course despite industry pressure, with electrification central to its climate and energy strategy.

Where this fits

Home electrification is a bet on two things: that the grid will have enough firm power to meet peak winter heating demand, and that the cost of electric heat pumps plus grid reinforcement will be lower than the incumbent gas network. Neither is certain. The gas lobby's claim that electrification will strain the grid speaks to a real problem Australia has not yet solved: how to firm a renewable-heavy grid in winter without gas. Electrification increases electricity demand at the exact hours, cold evenings, when solar output is zero and wind is variable. This pressure (reliability and firm capacity) is genuine, even if the lobby's motive is self-interest.

What it means

Australia is committing to electrify homes without having secured the firm power to back it. That firm power will come from either gas plants (which defeats the emissions goal and keeps the grid vulnerable to gas price shocks), or from new nuclear capacity (banned by law). The consequence is either higher grid costs to overbuild renewable capacity and storage, or reliance on gas firming for decades. Neither option is being honestly costed into electrification policy. The grid is being redesigned to suit ideology rather than physics.