Renew Economy: Customers should pay to quit gas, says rule maker, but with strict rules around “actual costs” of disconnection

Households and businesses wishing to quit gas should pay the full cost of abolishing their network connection, the Australian energy market rule maker says, describing it as the “fairest” approach to mass electrification and avoiding a gas network death spiral.
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Action from the AEMC was requested by the Justice and Equity Centre (JEC), which argues that the current lack of any national framework around gas disconnection services is causing “regulatory uncertainty, inconsistent regulatory decisions and issues of inefficiency, inequitable cost sharing and potential risks to safety.

“To the extent current arrangements for disconnection disincentivise or delay electrification, there are also likely to be material emissions implications,” the rule change request says.

As the JEC notes in its request to the AEMC, its call for disconnection rules would complement rule for new gas connections that are being requested by the Energy Consumer Association (ECA), on which Renew Economy has reported here and here.