Homes in New South Wales will continue being built with gas connections after the premier, Chris Minns, ruled out a Victorian-style ban on new connections, saying the state already had enough energy supply issues.
The definitive comments came after the state’s energy minister, Penny Sharpe, on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility of the state following Victoria.
Speaking on 2GB radio on Monday morning, the premier said there were serious energy challenges for NSW and he would not further complicate them by banning gas in new homes.
“The challenges in energy are serious in NSW,” he said. “We’ve also got baseload power that’s coming off in the next few years and not enough renewables coming into the system. I don’t need another complication or another policy change when the challenges ahead of us are so serious.”
Minns said the move away from gas connections in new homes in NSW was “largely led by economics” – insisting there were “significant savings” to be had in fully electric homes.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, last week announced gas connections would be banned in new homes and government buildings built from next year.
The announcement was backed by environmental groups and the property and construction sectors.
The government estimated the change would save households up to $1,000 on their annual energy bills – or $2,200 if they have solar installed – and reduce emissions.
Asked on Sunday about the chance of NSW adopting such a policy, Sharpe said all options were still on the table but other initatives were higher on the list.
“We’re looking at all of the options around reducing emissions,” she said. “That’s not something that we’ve made a decision about at this point. There are a lot of other items around emissions in emissions reduction that I’m interested in.”
Minns last week warned the path to reaching net zero emissions in NSW by 2050 was “very narrow”.
He has also repeatedly refused to rule out buying back the Eraring power station to avoid energy shortages. It is expected to close in 2025.
The NSW opposition leader, Mark Speakman, said “enormous” cost of living pressures meant now was not the time to ban gas connections in homes.
“It would impose a major cost pressure on struggling families,” he told reporters on Monday.
“It also wouldn’t reduce emissions in the short term when we’ve got coal still supplying most of the energy for the electricity grid.”
