At home in early autumn, Sonia Hicks doesn’t have much need for gas.
The retired physiotherapist lives in Pinjarra, about an hour south of Perth, and her gas bills at this time of the year are low.
“Our last bill was $2 for the use of gas, which is basically just for heating saucepans of food,” Ms Hicks says.
“It’s about $2 and the rest is $40, which is made up for their administrative costs.”
While Ms Hicks’s gas bills are low in March and April, it’s a different story come winter time.
Along with her husband, Derrick, she relies heavily on a gas heater for warmth during the colder months.
And when they arrive, the bills can quickly add up — so much so that her annual costs are anywhere up to $700.
Annual cost of $700? Let me introduce you to PG&E we are paying upwards of 300 to 400 a month.
Is that for both gas and electricity? Because the article is only referencing natural gas.
Our natural gas bill in Texas has been creeping up and up despite reducing our consumption by replacing several gas appliances with electric. The gas companies see the writing on the wall and are moving to a regressive flat fee-based structure because their demand is cratering.
Next up, I want an induction stove
I recommend a countertop portable induction burner if you’re not ready to get a whole new stove yet. It worked out very well for me, but I generally only need one burner and my favorite pans are induction-friendly.
But he says more and more of those are moving away from gas towards electrification, in which everything from their car to their stove and their hot water system is powered by electricity.
While our house is in the USA instead of Aus, this is us. The only gas we used at all was for the furnace in the winter and a gas log fireplace. We didn’t use either in the warmer months but still had to pay $40/month just to be connected to the gas line even if we used zero gas.
So we yanked out the gas furnace and gas log and put in a cold climate heat pump and electric fireplace log set getting rid of gas entirely. We are paying less now in energy (electricity) even during the coldest months than we were before for energy (electricity and gas). During the coldest months it was still $100-$150 cheaper to be electric only. Even better, we don’t pay $40/month during the warm months. We save over $750 per year now being all electric. Full disclosure, we also have solar panels, so we’re using sunlight during spring and fall for the mild heating needed during those seasons to power the Heat Pump.
At least we all have some unity, our gas companies across the planet act like shit. The US has farcical regulatory commissions in each state that pretend to negotiate and always concede to rate hikes for any flimsy pretense.
Begone with them all.
