Opinion
Remember when it was a crazy conspiracy theory that they were going to take your gas cooking and heating away? Oh, yes, you can guess where this is heading.
California is already banning gas appliances. Australia’s wokest state, Victoria, is banning them in new constructions.
Now, they’re coming for your existing cooker and heater. Oh, it’s “voluntary”, of course — just like the Covid vaccines were “voluntary”. Once again, authoritarian “nudge theory” in action.
Victorians can expect rapid and sharp rises in gas bills within four years as the local supply hits a cliff and the state uses more gas than it produces, with a new state government report calling for 2 million households to urgently switch to electricity.
New incentives will be offered to encourage people to ditch gas cooktops as the state government pushes ahead with plans to install electric appliances in new buildings and replace obsolete equipment in older homes.
“Encouraged”, they call it.
And the only reason the state will consume more gas than it produces is because the socialist Labor government has restricted exploration, with moratoriums and outright bans.
Like all government attempts to manipulate the market, it will work this time.
“We’re helping Victorians take the next steps to get off expensive fossil gas … It’s a journey that we need to go on,” Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said on Thursday.
So they’re going to force Victorians to switch to even more expensive electricity — with prices driven through the roof by “renewables”. The price of electricity in Victoria has more than doubled in the past decade. Since Albanese’s Labor got into power in Canberra, prices have jumped by a further 25%.
But they have veys of making you cook mit electricity.
The Allan government will also run reviews into new regulations that could require households to switch to electric appliances when their gas products reach the end of their useful life. Natural gas connections in new homes with planning permits will be banned from January 1, but consultation will also begin to expand this ban further, including to commercial buildings.
Then there’s this piece of splendid pea-and-shells justification.
D’Ambrosio said government modelling showed homes that went all-electric could save $1700 a year or $2700 with solar installed – figures that were cited in the government’s road map.
But the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association disputed that, saying it was higher than the average annual gas bill for Victorians, which the Australian Energy Regulator reported in October was below $1600.
“With solar installed”: so, just shell out ten grand, and you’ll save heaps of money! Which is possibly true enough in the long run — but with a cost of living crisis already in full swing, how many Victorian households have spare income to pay for solar?
Opposition energy spokesman David Davis said forcing Victorians off gas would increase costs and deny them choice.
“Instead of restricting energy supply and choice for Victorians, Labor must focus on securing additional supply so that households and businesses can access affordable and reliable power they need and deserve,” he said.
The Age
Don’t be silly: Victoria’s socialist government has a planet to save.
Just like they “saved” Victoria from Covid.