Equal Electrification – decarbonising households through partnership
Energy Consumers Australia and CSIRO have just released Stepping Up , a joint technical report outlining a smoother pathway to decarbonisation in Australia, highlighting that to meet emission reduction targets, all Australian households need to electrify.??
The report highlights that 11 million homes will need to make the switch from gas appliances, gas heating, and petrol or diesel transportation, and electrify these to meet the Federal Government’s climate commitment of decarbonising energy use by 2050. ?
In the current cost-of-living crisis, there is no denying that starting a decarbonisation journey will be a costly endeavour for households. Financially, the key benefit of electrifying households is the future cost savings, touted to be over $2,250 per year by 2030 for households that do invest in the transition. ?
For many Australians, the process of electrification is not as simple as upgrading appliances and switching to electric vehicles. Households living in apartment buildings, multi-unit dwellings and renters may not receive the same benefits as stand-alone, owner-occupied households, due to shared energy services, and a lack of financial incentives to make the switch. ?
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As more households electrify, the price of gas is expected to increase and the price of electricity decrease. From 2030 the cost of electric vehicles is set to decline thanks to higher uptake, lower operating costs, and lower fuel costs. Transportation accounts for around half of a household’s greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the more households that make the switch to electric vehicles, the more emissions saved.??
For electrification to become a normal part of life, infrastructure to support electrification must be available for households. In the last 12 months Ausgrid has connected over 60,000 households. We’re installing public electrical vehicle chargers , running trials on pole-mounted batteries , and shortly will have at least nine community batteries across our network. These assets have all revolutionised our existing assets, helping homeowners benefit from electrification on a larger scale and supporting our customers to embark on their own electrification journey.?
Energy Consumers Australia has recommended that a new national partnership should be tasked with developing a clear and comprehensive national plan that sets out how all households will decarbonise. This partnership is the solution to allow equal electrification across all Australian households.?
This plan is critical in the wake of the ACT Government and Victorian Government 's recent ban on new gas connections. By working together, we have transformed how the world works many times before, and electrifying households is just another way in which we can transform our future.??