Electrifying Australian homes would cost $63billion according to costing done for David Pocock
Huge $63 billion price tag revealed for taxpayers to fully electrify Australian homes in bid to move away from fossil fuels
- Electrifying Aussie homes could cost taxpayers $63 billion
- The costs were drawn up by the parliamentary budget office
Electrifying Australian homes by replacing gas appliances could cost taxpayers more than $63 billion, according to a new cost document.
Australian Pipelines and Gas Association chief executive officer Steve Davies revealed that the hefty estimate came from cost calculations done by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) for Independent Senator David Pocock.
It was calculated by the PBO that it would cost $11.3 million to electrify just one suburb in the ACT.
The PBO based their estimate on a model where $13,000 per household in Canberra was spent to electrify 1,000 homes.
This figure indicates that it would cost more than $63.3 billion to electrify all of Australia’s 5.1 million households that currently use gas.
It is estimated that it would cost taxpayers more than $63 billion to electrify all Australian households (stock image)
Government grants funded by taxpayers would be used to cover 50 percent of the transition, including installing new electrical equipment.
The other half would be financed by the household through concessional loans through the government, it said The Australian.
Mr Davies explained that this estimate showed that the transition from fossil fuels to renewables would be financially difficult, especially given the cost of living crisis.
“Any change we make to decarbonise our country will come at a cost and the huge price tag of fully electrifying Australian homes and businesses has often been downplayed,” he told the publication.
“Every industry, including the gas infrastructure sector, has a responsibility to decarbonise and do so in a way that is economical for households and businesses during this cost-of-living crisis.”
Mr. Pocock has long advocated for a national electrification program that pushes for renewable energy sources in households to reduce emissions and cut energy bills.
Last year he launched his plan for a ‘Suburb Zero’ pilot project that would electrify all households in one Canberra suburb.
The hefty estimate came from cost calculations made by the Parliamentary Budget Office for Independent Senator David Pocock (pictured), who has pushed for a national electrification program
Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced last December that the government was in talks with the Greens to develop a support package to help households and businesses transition from fossil fuels (pictured, coal-fired power plant)
Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced last December that the government is in talks with the Greens to develop a support package to help households and businesses transition to electrification.
‘We’ve had a good talk with Adam Bandt and the Greens, and what we’ve done, as he outlined, we’ve agreed that ahead of the May budget we’ll develop a package to help Australian households. and companies are coping with the transition to electrification and supporting them on that journey,” he said.
“If there’s disagreement, no surprise, we’re in agreement, we’re in agreement that households and industries are moving to cheaper energy, often in the case of households, healthier energy is a good thing.”
“We’ve started that work, we’ve committed to delivering a substantial path leading up to the May budget. That’s the right thing to do.’
The cost to electrify households comes amid a recent report from the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, which found electrification to be the ‘least costly option’ for decarbonisation.
The data also showed that electrified buildings in Australia would save $49 billion between 2024 and 2050 over the ‘business as usual’ strategy of electrification, gas and offsets.