Policy certainty on gas vital for energy security - The Australian

The Australian reports calls from industry figures for policy certainty around gas as a critical component of energy security during the electricity transition. The article signals that long-term gas investment and generation capacity depend on clear, stable policy settings rather than ad-hoc regulatory change.

Where this fits

This touches the reliability pillar. A renewables-heavy grid with variable output needs dispatchable firming. Gas plants provide that, but they require capital investment over decades. Uncertain policy, whether on gas itself, emissions, or grid operation, deters the investment needed to keep existing capacity online and build new plants. Without policy certainty, Australia risks losing gas generation precisely when it is needed most to balance wind and solar.

What it means

Policy uncertainty does not make renewables cheaper or faster to deploy. It makes the transition more expensive. Every year of ambiguity on gas policy is a year gas investors delay or cancel projects, tightening the dispatchable margin and forcing a harder reliance on battery storage, network upgrades, and imports of manufactured capacity from China. Australia needs both renewable build and firming investment to happen in parallel, not sequentially. That requires policy settings that make both stack up on cost and timeline. Gas certainty is part of that, but so is being honest about the scale of firming and storage Australia will need, and about the cost of building it without any low-emission firm power source except gas. A nuclear option would remove that dependence, but policy rules it out.