Homeowners facing thousands in costs to upgrade from gas to electric

ATCO gas shutdown to force Albany architect onto bottled gas after building dream home In short: An Albany architect spent tens of thousands of dollars on gas appliances for his new home only to find out the city's reticulated gas network would soon shut down. Eight thousand of ATCO Australia's Albany customers will need to change their appliances to electricity, or convert to using gas bottles. What's next? The WA government is offering up to $2,000 for conversions, but experts say that will barely cover the cost of switching to electric. After years designing dozens of buildings in the coastal city of Albany, architect Michael Roberts finally built his dream home. The avant-garde house in Middelton Beach, about 450 kilometres south of Perth, was built connected to the city's reticulate liquid petroleum gas network, with gas appliances for heating and cooking plumbed in. But Mr Roberts is now facing a bill in the tens of thousands to refit the home after ATCO Australia announced it would decommission its Albany gas network over the next three years. "I've had a look at the compensation packages that have been put on the table," he said. "I don't know whether they've all been agreed or signed off yet, but the whole thing has come as a surprise." The $31 million package, which includes $5 million from ATCO, will cover the cost for customers moving to bottled gas, while those going electric will be compensated up to $2,000. Mr Roberts said the compensation would only cover a fraction of the $10,000 to $12,000 he estimated it would cost to swap his appliances from gas to electric. "We'll probably tough it out with bottles, but had I known earlier I would have made the decision and gone straight to electric," he said. 'We weren't told' The architect said ATCO's decision, and the timing of its announcement, had impacted several of his firm's clients. "It's disgraceful that as design professionals, as architects, we were designing projects for people and they're making selections to use gas in good faith … that we weren't told; they weren't told," he said. ATCO and the state government faced renewed criticism last month after documents obtained by the ABC found they discussed the decommissioning of the network eight months before customers were told. Energy Minister Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said following unsuccessful discussions to keep ATCO in Albany, it was her preference residents move off gas entirely. "It's not going to be the long-term fuel for Western Australia," she said. "It's a transition fuel, and ultimately, we want the residents of Albany to electrify." More cash for electricity Energy analyst Ray Wills said the transition from gas to electric was the right move, but the package needed to be larger to entice people away from gas bottles. "No longer burning gas should be an incentive in itself," he said. "However, if you've got to spend six or eight or ten grand to convert your house … it's still reasonably dear." Professor Wills said a business case should determine the exact price, with the government subsidising 50 per cent of the cost. He said the main concern with the package was that customers would stay on gas as the rest of the state electrified. "We can draw a metaphor … the Rio Tinto board tried to electrify, it didn't quite get there because they were getting free money from government for their diesel, so they stuck with it," he said. "This is kind of the same thing. It's about having a lower cost option being the one that's still burning stuff, and the higher cost option is going electric, which is what the state is trying to achieve." City of Albany Mayor Greg Stocks said the package was not enough to achieve the state government's goal of electrification. "This transition package is about gas bottle, reticulated gas to gas bottle, the budget's not big enough for electrification," he said. "I would think by the time you buy a heat pump and perhaps go to reverse cycle air conditioning you're well over the $10,000 mark."