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https://reneweconomy.com.au/gas-network-death-spiral-pressure-mounts-to-protect-consumers-from-cost-of-stranded-assets/>
"Pressure is mounting on the energy market rule maker to shield consumers from
carrying the cost of an unregulated and mismanaged gas network death spiral, as
the fossil fuel is increasingly phased out of homes and businesses and
electrification gathers pace.
Energy Consumers Australia is proposing four rule changes, now in the
Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) queue, to rein in gas networks’
attempts to pump current customers for the future cost of redundant
infrastructure.
The proposed new rules would require gas networks to identify areas likely to
disconnect from the residential gas network in the near future and to add
declining use as a criteria for deciding whether a capital investment should
happen.
The suggested reforms also call for a tightening of accelerated depreciation
rules so consumers aren’t charged if networks don’t have a plan in place to
reduce the risk, and a plan to make users pay up front for new connections so
the cost isn’t socialised across existing consumers.
The goal is to prevent small business and consumers across Australia being left
carrying the cost of stranded gas networks, says ECA general manager of policy
Brian Spak.
“We don’t mean to imply that there shouldn’t be any new spending on gas
networks… but we have to be really careful to avoid any expenditure that
doesn’t serve those things,” he told Renew Economy.
“The stranded asset risk exists and there’s fairly straightforward steps that
should be taken to protect consumers. There are two main things we need to do,
we need to be very careful about any new capital spending on gas networks.
“The other thing is we need to plan gas networks, period. It is remarkable that
there is a long list of planning processes for electricity networks such as the
RIT-D [Regulatory Investment Test for Distribution]… but none of those
frameworks exist for gas networks.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
