Switching from gas to an all-electric home can save hundreds of dollars a year, but if you’re not careful you risk copping some hefty fees. There’s one big decision to make that determines how much you will be out of pocket: should you abolish your gas connection or just disconnect it?
If you decide to have your gas connection removed forever, you’ll often be charged over $1,000 to have it abolished. There’s a trick to not paying this heavy fee and that trick is — don’t have your gas abolished in the first place.
Provided there’s no safety issue, most of the time simply having your gas disconnected will do. The cost can be tiny compared to permanent abolishment and a trivial amount compared to what you’ll save by no longer having to pay gas supply charges. Depending on circumstances, it can be under $10. Here in SA, I’ve even had gas disconnected for free.
Below in this article, I’ll explain:
- The difference between disconnecting gas and abolishing it.
- Disconnection costs by retailer.
- How much you may have to pay to have gas abolished.
- How to maximize savings — including a slightly sneaky way of lowering disconnection costs.
What I won’t do is go into how you save money by getting off gas. But trust me, the savings are there, and I will write about them in detail soon.
1. Disconnection Vs. Abolishment
Disconnection involves plugging or otherwise sealing the gas pipe on your property just before it enters your gas meter. The gas meter is also usually removed, presumably, so you won’t be tempted to taunt it for its impotence. “Did your supply peter, gas meter? Do you have to refrain from methane? Is the sauerkraut sandwich I had for lunch causing me to pass more gas than you?”
This computer-generated image cost the job of the artist I would have otherwise hired to draw googly-eyed sauerkraut sandwiches.
Disconnection leaves a pipe with pressurized gas on your property, but — very importantly — there’s no longer pressurized gas going into your home. Living with a pipe full of explosion gas on your property isn’t ideal, but it’s far safer than having pressurized pipes inside your home, feeding appliances with earth fart.1
Abolishment is a more severe solution. Your pipe isn’t just blocked; it gets permanently cut off. This often involves ripping up your footpath to reach the street mains, pulling out your pipe, and capping off where it was connected to prevent leaks. The gas pipe to your meter will be removed, along with the meter itself. Ideally, all signs you ever had gas will be gone, but it’s important to check exactly what they’ll do before agreeing to the process.
Gas disconnection may only take a few days. If you’ve ever tried not paying your gas bills, you might know it can get done pretty quick. But if you request it, they could keep you waiting a few weeks.
Gas abolishment can take months. The gas distributor will typically get the work done within 2-4 weeks of it being approved, but if your local council requires a permit that can add 6 weeks or more, so don’t expect to have gas abolished in a hurry.
If I compare the pros and cons of disconnection vs. abolishment on the grounds of cost, safety, speed, and reversibility, I get the following:
- Cost: In most states, this is a big win for disconnection, as it’s normally a small fraction of the cost of abolishment. The exception to this is Victoria, where the cost of gas abolishment is capped at $242. Unless you’re really struggling, I’d say that price makes it well worth getting your gas abolished. The ACT may soon also have a similar cap.
- Safety: A slight win to abolishment here, as disconnection means there’s still a pressurized gas pipe on your property. But provided your hobby isn’t illegal earthworks, disconnection and abolishment are both vastly safer than having pressurized gas pipes inside your home.
- Speed: A clear win for disconnection, which can take days rather than months.
- Reversibility: Big win to disconnection here. It can be reversed for a modest fee. But if your gas is abolished, consider it gone forever. There’s no point in spending potentially thousands to bring it back.
2. Disconnection Costs By Retailer
When you have your gas disconnected or abolished, your gas distributor does the work, while your gas retailer passes on the fee to you. The difference between them is the distributor is in charge of pipes and gas while your retailer isn’t involved in the physical side of things and only sells gas.
You don’t get to choose your gas distributor because there will only be one in your location. This is because gas is a natural monopoly. A fancy way of saying that competing companies, all with incentives to sabotage the others, laying multiple pipes full of explosive gas under your street isn’t the most efficient way to do things.
When it comes to gas retailers, there’s normally a choice. There’s usually little difference between what they charge, but it can still pay to check every now and then to see if you can get a better deal.
If you don’t know who your gas distributor is, which is normal, it will be on your bill. If you don’t know who your gas retailer is, which is abnormal, it’s in BIG LETTERS on your bill.
When you have gas disconnected or abolished, the gas distributor does the work and charges your retailer a fee. The retailer then passes the fee onto you. But the amount depends on the contract the retailer has with the distributor, so what retailers charge for gas disconnection can vary wildly.
You can also be hit with additional fees. You’ll often also have to pay for a special meter read when gas is disconnected, but these fees usually aren’t high. What can cause costs to mount up is if you have to pay call-out fees or a fee because they came out to your place but couldn’t work because your Scottish Terrier looked too vicious. So it’s a good idea to check you won’t be slugged for anything extra.
The two largest energy retailers in Australia are Origin Energy (who — full disclosure — own SolarQuotes) and AGL. Their gas disconnection fees are very similar and, for the most part, not very high — although charges tend to be higher if the distributor covers areas outside major cities. While you may need to pay for a special meter reading, my understanding is these big retailers normally don’t add other extra charges, but it’s still worth checking there’s no hidden fee ambush waiting for you.
Here’s what AGL charges at the time of writing for gas disconnection by distributor. Hopefully, I’ve included all distributors where they retail gas, but because AGL doesn’t provide a convenient list on their site, it’s possible I’ve missed one or two:
- NSW: Jemena $17.60, Australian Gas Networks Albury/Murry Valley NSW $11.77, Australian Gas Networks $11.77
- QLD: Australian Gas Networks $13.20, APT Allgas $25.60
- SA: Australian Gas Networks $14.19
- VIC: Multinet $8.58, Australian Gas Networks metro areas $11.77, Australian Gas Networks non-metro areas $11.77, AusNet Services $7.99
- WA: ATCO $11.63
Here’s what Origin currently charges for disconnection, according to their website. Tasmania isn’t on the list because Origin doesn’t retail gas there:
- NSW: Jemena $17.60, Australian Gas Networks Albury/Murry Valley $16.28, Australian Gas Networks $66.40, Central Ranges Tamworth $60.31
- VIC: Multinet $8.58, Australian Gas Networks metro areas $11.77, Australian Gas Networks non-metro areas $16.28, Australian Gas Networks Mildura $14.19, AusNet Services $7.99
- WA: ATCO $11.63
- QLD: Australian Gas Networks $13.20, APT Allgas $25.60
- SA: Australian Gas Networks $14.19
- ACT: Evoenergy $14.30
Energy Australia is the nation’s third-largest energy retailer. They don’t retail gas in as many areas as Origin or AGL and their disconnection fees can be considerably higher. The fees below are from this page on their website:
- NSW: Jemena $157.30, Australian Gas Networks non-metro areas $66.40, Australian Gas Networks $92.40
- VIC: Australian Gas Networks $92.40, Multinet $67.10, AusNet Services $73.2
- SA: Australian Gas Networks $96.80
- ACT: Evoenergy $184.80
Now I’ve given the gas disconnection fees for the big three, I’ll provide them for a few smaller retailers that operate with a single gas distributor.
Synergy is a WA energy retailer in and around Perth. Their disconnection fee is:
- WA: ATCO $60.97
ActewAGL is an ACT energy retailer. Their latest gas disconnection fee can be found here, but at the time of writing it is:
- ACT: Evoenergy $190.34
Aurora Energy is a Tasmanian retailer. Their disconnection fee is:
- TAS: Tas Gas Networks $110
While you can be charged nearly $200 with an unfortunate combination of gas distributor and retailer, most people will be charged under $20 and some will only pay $7.99. The only thing significantly better than that would be a free disconnection — which is possible under the right circumstances.
My gas was disconnected for free after I moved into a block of flats with gas but only signed up for electricity. For a while, I received letters from the former tenants’ gas retailer telling me that if I didn’t sign up for gas, I could be disconnected. But I seriously did not care. At some point, I was disconnected at no cost to me and the letters stopped coming. A double win from my point of view.
“Oh great! I step outside to taunt my gas meter like a normal human being and it’s gone!”
3. Gas Abolishment Fees By Distributor
Exactly how much you’ll be charged for gas connection abolishment may depend on how much work is required. If you live in a block of units, there’s not a lot they can do. They’re not allowed to rip out everyone’s gas — no matter how much you might want them to — so they’ll just remove your own personal piece of pipe. If you’re lucky, this might only cost you a few hundred dollars, but it’s not something you can rely on when dealing with these organisations.
As with disconnection, the distributor will do the work and charge a fee to your retailer who will pass it on to you. So your retailer may affect how much you’ll have to pay for abolishment, but I expect the fee will be much the same whoever they are.
Electricity retailers generally don’t list abolishment fees, and many gas distributors don’t publish them either. But below is information I’ve found on what gas distributors charge for abolishment:
- NSW: While gas distributors in this state don’t provide abolishment fees on their sites, in 2023 the NSW Parliament found Jemena charged many residential customers $1,151.70 for gas abolishment, and that fees in NSW can reach as high as $1,445.
- VIC: In 2023 the fee for gas abolishment in Victoria was capped at $242.
- WA: ATCO charges $1,204.67. You also have to first pay for disconnection.
- ACT: Evoenergy charges $948.20 for a regular residential gas abolishment. However, gas abolishment in the ACT may be reduced to around $242 in the future.
Fees for the rest of the country were not readily available. But as you can see, outside of Victoria, abolishment can be a very pricey proposition.
4. How To Maximize Your Savings
If you’re planning to get off gas for good, and you’re not planning to dig up your yard or do anything else that might damage a pressurized gas pipe on your property, then — outside of Victoria and potentially soon the ACT — you can save a lot of money by simply getting your gas disconnected rather than abolished.
While this will leave a live pipe on your property full of pressurized explosion gas, I expect that so many other households will give up on gas that, in time, the distribution network will no longer pay for itself and will be shut down. This means you should eventually receive the safety benefit of gas abolishment for free. I won’t try to guess when this will happen. It’s very dependent on government policy, which can be all over the place. All I’ll say is I think it will start to happen sooner than most people expect.
If you do decide to get a gas disconnection, but you’re with a retailer that charges a high fee, there is a slightly sneaky way to pay less. Origin and AGL may not appreciate me pointing this out, but if they have a significantly lower disconnection fee than your current retailer, you can change to whoever has the lowest fee before you disconnect. This could potentially save you over $150. While many people won’t think this is much money, I know there are others who will love this idea. Not so much because they’ll be saving money for themselves, but mainly because they’ll be paying gas retailers less than they otherwise would have to.
Of course, before switching off the gas, you’ll need to make sure you have your alternatives in place. Take a look at our comprehensive guide on hot water heat pumps, which are vastly more cost effective than gas-fired hot water, or get up to three quotes from vetted installers.
About Ronald Brakels
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I challenge your first statement:
“Switching from gas to an all-electric home can save hundreds of dollars a year”.
Unless you have batteries at home, The cheapest way overnight to heat your home, cook and heat hot water is gas.
So, until you have batteries, eliminating gas will not save hundreds of dollars a year.
Having gas in addition to electricity also gives you a backup during power outages. The only time I was EVER without gas was after the Longford explosion in 1998. I have been without electricity twice this year alone.
These days, using electricity for heat can be considerably cheaper than using gas for three main reasons:
1. Rooftop solar makes the effective cost of electricity per kWh during the day very low and usually cheaper than gas. This is especially true for hot water systems as they can be run in the middle of the day. Home heating use is negatively correlated with solar output, but solar can still be a big help.
2. Heat pump hot water and reverse cycle air conditioners can provide heat at a cost equal to or under that of gas. Combined with rooftop solar, heating costs can be peanuts.
3. Getting off gas altogether saves the cost of paying gas supply charges.
But it is nice to have gas in a blackout and is something to keep in mind when thinking about going off gas.
Ronald, isn’t there also the occasionally publicised threat of the east coast running out of gas in the next few years? Reliable energy supply is pretty important too, I figure.
I’m not up to date on the subject of gas, though. My first owner-build, about 35 years ago, omitted gas supply as unnecessary. How many tens of thousands has that saved? (All heating was renewable biomass, i.e. self-harvested firewood, brought back from farm visits, or cut on the heavily wooded block in the Dandenongs. I’m not sure how it compares if you have to buy it, though.)
When we lost power in the Dandenongs, for 5 weeks during Covid, I cooked on the wood heater and a camping stove. That’s where solar powered HWS heating wins over grid-powered. One kettle of hot water does not make for a great bath in winter.
The current owner-build, is also gas-free. The HWS serves also as a heat bank, as it’s located indoors. (See p77 of Jan-Mar 2025 Renew magazine)
Heat leakage helps keep the living area warm in winter. OK, with 27 kW of PV, the HWS just has a resistive element – no heat pump efficiency needed.
As full off-grid is not hard, even with a BEV as the only wheels, and rural distances to travel, ditching gas while on grid seems a nifty opportunity to protect the kids against asthma, while preparing for escalating gas prices and dwindling supply. And an induction cooktop beats gas on all counts. Even ditching the non-stick aluminium frying pan protects against Teflon flu.
If there’s ample roof space for PV array overdimensioning (for winter), then going all-electric is a substantial step toward achieving energy independence once battery prices fall to your price range. (Mind you, it can be a bit techy – good monitoring is key to keeping it firing on all cylinders over extended time.)
The east coast can’t run out of gas in the sense of using more than is produced. But they sold it. Past Australian governments decided to sell Australian gas at what are now really low prices. Our best option now is to simply use less. On the bright side, there should be an emissions advantage to Australia supplying cheap gas as it helps it to displace coal overseas – so we can console ourselves with that as residential gas pressure drops and prices rise.
No battery required. I have one but have done the numbers. Using a time of use tariff I pay the equivalent of 0.5c per MJ of gas to heat hot water during the day. I pre heat my well insulated house during same period at same cost. If cooking or local heating is required, even at peak period cost it is less than gas overall over the year.
Gas is a more expensive than electrified heat sources.
And it’s terrible stuff.
Your hot water will happily heat during the day with a hot water diverter. Mine 5years going strong. Grid tied system
Ronald, small point Synergy is theoretically able sell gas in WA to residential customers as the market is fully deregulated well sort of kind of.
The interesting catch is that the government prevents Synergy from selling gas to users who consume less than 180 gigajoules per annum. I have no idea how much that is but I suspect several of your sauerkraut sandwiches.
Alinta is the principal residential gas supplier plus Kleenheat. I could not find disconnection fees or abolishment fees on the Alinta web site.
I did note that it appears that after a disconnection they reserve the right to abolish the service at some point in the future and charge for that work which is a little sneaky but the wording is convoluted so I could be wrong.
Just something for people in WA to be aware of.
Thanks for the info. Sounds like Synergy can only retail gas to big consumers because to get 180 gigajoules of heat from an electric resistance heater would take 50,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity or 120 million sauerkraut sandwiches. (Technically, you could get some energy back by burning the methane generated by those sauerkraut sandwiches, but that’s not very efficient.)
When I removed my last gas appliance, in Victoria they wanted to charge me abolishment instead of disconnection and told me it would take several weeks.
One phone call to the Energy Ombudsman and it was disconnected free the next day!
As I had installed a hot water heat pump which only runs between 1.00pm to 3.00pm when my solar panels are generating it has been hard to find any increase in grid electricity use so I am saving hundreds from the standing charge plus the gas usage.
Great to hear Brian,
Just need to tell your neighbours and the rest of the street for that matter.
Gas is a goner, which is why they’re trying to make an emotional connection by advertising cooking. Even though it’s only 2% of consumption they know humans are emotive beasts who care mainly about the hip pocket nerve.
When we bought our house in 1995, there was gas in the street, but none on the property.
We had an ancient old electric stove in our 1970 vintage house, but swapped it within about the first week for gas and decided on LPG as that was both cheaper and simpler.
It’s been very successful now as the AUSTRALIAN made stove (AMAZING eh!), and fan forced gas oven approaches 30 years old. We’ve never regretted our decision. The stove (and oven) have never given any trouble.
Now though, we have a battery and we do most of our cooking on power from the sun. The microwave and air fryer do the absolute vast majority of our cooking, though we also have a single plate portable induction cooker. (If you don’t have an airfryer, you’re really arguably missing out on the best kitchen gadget ever made, though obviously the microwave might disagree – it’s marvellous too.)
The very small amount of LPG that we use (mainly just the oven) means that a 9kg gas bottle lasts probably as much as six to eight months. The only update on that was an auto gas changeover regulator a year or so ago, to avoid making the cook very unhappy when the oven runs out of gas half way through cooking.
Thanks for the article Ronald. The cleaning benefits of induction stoves are something else, simply wipe across!
This household has a problem with switching from gas to all electric.
When our gas storage water heater was replaced under warranty, a few years ago, the house was checked for gas leaks, by the gas fitter. The gas stove was found to be leaky, and, was condemned and disconnected. So, I got a benchtop plug in electric oven and a benchtop dual solid element plug in hotplate. We have (more or less) managed with those, for cooking, for the last few years. It is amazing what is available with plug in appliances – no sparkie needed to connect them. Sometimes, I still smell the gas in the kitchen, even with the capping.
So, all that we have left that is connected to the gas (the unflued portable gas heater has not been used for several years, even before I found that they should not be used), is the gas storage water heater (GWH).
I had investigated the prospect of replacing the GWH with a heat pump water heater (HPWH), but two problems stopped me. The first, is that I have the piping such that, when both are working (as in not leaking, and thence, are usable), the water input for the GWH, is the output from a (large) solar water heater (SWH), so, the GWH heats only as much as is needed, in excess of what the SWH heats. In the information that I found, about HPWH’s, they apparently do not accept heated water input, so, I would no longer be able to use this line of water heating, if replacing the GWH with a HPWH. The second problem, is the gratuitously malignant change to water heater regulations, whence any new water heater, has to be temperature limited to 40-50 degrees centigrade, to deliberately prevent the killing, and, to increase the incidence, of bacteria in the water pipes (minimum temperature of 60 degrees is required to kill bacteria in water pipes, and, warm water is good for breeding), so, making getting a new water heater, deliberately unhealthy.
So, whilst I have considered changing to all-electric energy supply, it is too dangerous and difficult.
The good news is, while the tempering vale lowers the temperature of water to 50 degrees or less, hot water systems are required to heat it to a minimum of 60 degrees while the cold water it’s mixed with should be cold enough not to have detectable legionnaires bacteria. The potential for dangerous growth in pipes post tempering value is really low. In places like Darwin, cold water can be warm enough for legionnaires to grow, but it doesn’t seem to be a major problem there. However, rates do appear higher than here in SA. Interestingly, one third of South Australians have had a legionnaires infection, but nearly all shrugged it off without symptoms – but this doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous.
For Kleenheat Gas (WA):
”
Fees as at 20 January 2025
Disconnection Fees Fees including GST
Apply Meter Lock
Recovers the fee charged by the network operator to attend a property to disconnect the gas supply by means of applying a meter lock. $48.57
Remove Meter Lock
Recovers the fee charged by the network operator to attend a property to remove a meter lock. $33.11
Remove Regulator
Recovers the fee charged by the network operator to attend a property to disconnect the gas supply by means of regulator removal. $112.37
Reinstall Regulator
Recovers the fee charged by the network operator to attend a property to reinstall the regulator and reconnect gas supply. $238.66
Disconnect Service in Street
Recovers the fee charged by the network operator when disconnection of supply can only be achieved by disconnecting the service pipe in the street. $1,421.19
”
So, I assume that the “Apply Meter Lock” fee of $48.57, is the “Disconnection fee” and the “Disconnect Service in Street” fee of $1421.19 id the “Cancellation fee”.
Kleenheat is the retailer. Ask them to close your account and they should tell you to switch off at the meter.
I did this years ago and they told me that ATCO would read the meter, see zero consumption and no bills would be generated.
This has been my experience.
No gas costs and no standing charge.
Some facts that this article needs:
– The capped abolishment price in Victoria just means that other gas users pay the difference. The actual cost to excavate the service pipe and cut it is still around the $1000 mark (or more) in all states and the ACT. The capped price in Victoria was an interim measure and the AER noted that the number of disconnections was low so that the impact on remaining users would not be material.
– Leaving the pressurised pipe in your yard is a choice that individuals must make bearing in mind that activities like gardening, erecting formwork for a new driveway or replacing a side fence can cause damage to the buried pipe and result in a gas escape with the potential for a fire.
– The pressurised pipe still incurs ongoing maintenance costs.
– Normal human beings do not taunt their gas meter.
Not sure I understand this. Gas is turned off at the meter outside of the property so gas is not pressurised inside.
The cost to maintain the gas pipeline inside the property has always been the owners.
The cost to maintain the gas pipeline outside of the property is the gas company and ultimately its users.
If you are not a user you shouldn’t have to pay.
The cost of installation and gas system costs of installation will long have been recovered.
Gas company may make the claim that there are costs they want to recover. If they bought it recently they should have factored climate change / cost related disconnections as part of their purchase.
If people “love” their gas connection, then they should pay for it and should be happy to pay for the system costs increasingly falling on them for that affectation.
I got off early in the case that the gas companies convinced the regulator they could socialise their loss in misunderstood expected value.
Get out while you can.
I ended my gas account with Origin in Victoria. Left the meter and pipe in place. Some months later Origin resumed send bills for the service on the grounds that while I was not using gas I still had the service. It took a complaint to the Vic ombudsman to get them to p*ss off.
Another problem after deciding to get off gas is in changing the gas cooktop for an induction cooktop. The cut out in a kitchen bench, which may be engineered stone, is the size that fits the current gas cooktop and probably isn’t the right size to drop in an induction cooktop. Do you know of solutions to this, such as some sort of manufactured surrounding collar for the induction cooktop?
Hi Jennifer,
Depends a lot on the size disparity but I’ve seen a tasteful job done using a timber moulding.
You need to talk to a proper cabinet maker or someone who’s handy with a saw bench to machine timber. Basically they make a picture frame with a bevelled edge on the outside and a recess to accept the glass top of the induction stove.
Hi Ronald,
Like you article regarding disconnection of gas however for every rule there are always variations.
Not by our choice, however our property is supplied LPG via the town pipes. Newer area at Narangba QLD and Origin has a monopoly on the retail in this area.
Disconnected in Aug 2024 and left meter insitu – cost $66.00 (Inc GST) took the nice guy all of 5 minutes to place a cap in line before the meter….not bad if you can extort it! Oh and of course a meter read!
What about the fixed supply cost which you pay whether on not you use gas?
Both disconnection and abolishment of gas end the fixed supply charge.
I didn’t realise that Origin owned Solar Quotes and been reading you guys for years
Hi Chris,
Rest assured nothing much has changed, we’re still here with all the same people offering the same service.
My experience as posted to Facebook 15 Sep 2024. Getting off gas in Brisbane- retailer AGL. The account has been closed and I have received a form to complete. “Residential gas supply application” which also has options for removal/abolishment; removal of gas meter, or removal of gas service line AND meter. (AGL emphasis on the ‘AND’ not mine). I was quoted; a final meter read fee of $13.20, meter abolishment fee $95.70.