Gas Companies Want To Charge You To Quit Gas: How To Avoid $1000 Fees

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:

1. The difference between disconnecting gas and abolishing it.
2. Disconnection costs by retailer.
3. How much you may have to pay to have gas abolished.
4. 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.