Hundreds of dollars added to bills as gas company asset values decline
www.abc.net.au
Faced with declining use of their assets, the firms that own Australia's gas pipelines are trying to shield themselves from the risks of their networks becoming stranded — and customers are paying the tab.

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.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
    5·
    5 days ago

    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.