Canberra households connected to the territory's gas network that don't transition to the electricity grid may be hit with higher bills in coming years, Evoenergy has said.
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Speaking before a government inquiry into the ACT's renewable energy sector, the energy distributor's general manager, Peter Billing, said gas costs could rise for consumers as more people switched switched to electricity.
Mr Billing said the rise would be due to fewer gas customers having to share the same amount of costs required to run the network.
"If we got to a position where the gas customer base is one-third the size it is now, then that fixed cost [of running the network] gets spread across that third of customers," Mr Billing said.
"Those are are left, the ones not able to afford the transition, then the network component of their bill will rise."
The comments come just a day after it was announced electricity prices in Canberra would rise by almost 12 per cent from July, after a decision from the ACT Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission
The ACT government is looking to transition away from gas power for cooking and water heating in the territory as part of its climate change policy, even offering financial incentives for residents to do so as part of its sustainable household scheme.
The capital has met its target of 100 per cent renewable energy, but the government has flagged its intention to phase out gas use to meet its target of net-zero emissions.
Mr Billing said it was unlikely Canberra's gas network would be completely shut in coming years.
"I don't know how we would achieve that [by 2035]," he said.
"As the owner-operator of the gas network, we care about the $400 million we have invested in the gas network and the solution to find for gas networks of the future that emits net-zero emissions, and we want that outcome, too."
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The energy distributor is currently undertaking modelling to determine what Evoenergy would need to do in order to meet net-zero emissions targets,
The general manager said a transition from gas products to electric ones, such as water heaters and cooktops, could be done by customers over time.
The hearings into renewable energy examined whether hydrogen was viable as a future power source, which Mr Billing said was a possibility to be integrated into the existing gas network.
"Green hydrogen is a long-term solution for the gas network to enable it to stay viable to be a low carbon or zero-carbon alternative," he said.
Wayne Smith from the Smart Energy Council, who also appeared before the inquiry, said hydrogen being used for power through the gas network was a potential solution to meet net-zero emissions.
"It is still a vexed issue, and no one has quite landed on what the future is for the hydrogen and the gas network," he said.
"Hydrogen is drawing attention at the moment, for good or bad, because people see in hydrogen whatever what want to see in it and it has enormous potential and challenges."
The inquiry is examining how zero-emissions industries, as well as research in the sector, could be boosted in the ACT, along with how Canberra could become a national leader in the technologies.
Hearings will continue next week.
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