Australia’s gas networks are at a tipping point. As more households go all-electric, their neighbours still connected to gas are left to pick up the tab for the pipelines under our streets.
To manage that risk fairly, Energy Consumers Australia and the Justice and Equity Centre asked the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to make several changes to the rules governing gas networks.
In late August, the Commission released its draft determination on arguably the most contentious of those rule changes, and took an approach directly opposed to what Energy Consumers Australia asked for.
The rule change in question focuses on the ability of gas networks to charge households and businesses more, today, to reduce the networks’ risk of being stuck with underutilised and unpaid for pipelines.
Rather than requiring gas networks to share the risk of a shrinking customer base, the Commission assumes instead that networks can be trusted to price fairly on their own.
