Enabling electrification : addressing the barriers to moving off gas faced by lower-income households / Sangeetha Chandrashekeran, Julia de Bruyn, David Bryant and Damian Sullivan

Shifting households from carbon-intensive natural gas to less carbon-intensive fuels like renewable electricity is becoming a priority as the imperative to decarbonise accelerates. Little attention has been paid to date to the equity implications of the 5 million households on the gas network in Australia disconnecting from gas and converting their homes to all-electric. This report draws on surveys and focus groups with households facing energy stress to understand their attitudes to disconnecting from gas, and to identify the barriers and enablers to the change. Most participants supported the transition from gas, but few had electrified appliances, most commonly due to barriers such as cost or renting their home. These insights will be important to ensuring an equitable planned transition to electric homes in Victoria and other jurisdictions.

This report was written by Dr Sangeetha Chandrashekeran and Dr Julia de Bruyn (Life Course Centre) and David Bryant and Damian Sullivan (Brotherhood of St. Laurence).

Contents: Acknowledgements 4 -- Summary 5 -- Research approach 5 -- Findings 5 -- -- Implications 8 – 1 Electrification and lower-income households in Victoria 9 -- 2 Our research approach 11 -- 3 A profile of our research participants 12 -- Financial stress 14 -- Energy hardship 14 --Housing affordability and precarious housing 15 -- 4 Findings 16 -- Energy preferences and attitudes to a transition away from gas 16 -- Factors influencing electrification 17 -- Awareness and utilisation of existing support 19 -- Access to information 19 -- Importance of potential support measures 20 -- Variation in interest and capacity to electrify 21 5 Consumer journeys 22 -- 6 Implications 26 -- Multiple stressors 26 -- Information and knowledge 26 -- Tenure and control 28 -- Capital and finance 29 -- Rooftop solar and energy efficiency 29 -- Inclusive planning processes 30 -- References 31