More households are moving to efficient electric appliances, cutting back on gas, and looking for ways to reduce energy costs. However, renters are often left out of that transition.
Even in homes where gas use is minimal, tenants can still be paying daily supply charges just to stay connected. They typically have no control over whether the property keeps its gas connection, yet they carry the ongoing cost.
Now, advocates are pushing for a change. Rewiring Australia is calling for landlords to take on those fixed gas connection charges if they choose to keep gas in a rental property, as pressure builds to bring renters into the broader shift away from gas.
Why gas bills don’t disappear when usage drops
Gas bills are not just based on how much you use. A large part of the cost comes from fixed daily supply charges, which apply whether usage is high or near zero.
As more households move to electric appliances, gas consumption can fall sharply. Cooking, heating, and hot water may already be partly or fully electrified. But the connection itself remains, and so do the charges.
This creates a mismatch. A renter might barely use gas, yet still pay ongoing fees simply because the property is connected to the network. Unlike homeowners, renters usually cannot request a full disconnection or remove gas infrastructure. The cost stays, even though the usage is no longer justified.
Why renters are locked into the cost
One of the biggest barriers to electrifying rental homes is what energy and housing experts call the “split incentive” problem.
The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) describes it as a situation where landlords are responsible for major upgrades and appliances, while tenants are the ones paying the ongoing energy bills.
In practice, that means rentals usually cannot:
- Remove gas appliances
- Disconnect a property from the gas network
- Replace systems with electric alternatives
Those decisions sit with the property owner.
At the same time, landlords have little immediate financial reason to act because the recurring gas supply charges are typically paid by the tenant, not the owner.
This dynamic keeps gas connections in place by default, even when they no longer make financial sense for the household using them.
What Rewiring Australia is proposing
To address this imbalance, Rewiring Australia is calling for a change in how gas connection costs are handled in rental properties.
The proposal is simple: if a landlord chooses to keep property connected to gas, they should be responsible for the fixed supply charges that come with it.
The reasoning is tied directly to control. Property owners decide whether gas infrastructure stays or goes, while tenants have limited ability to change it. Rewiring Australia argues that the cost of maintaining that connection should sit with the party making that decision.
This isn’t about forcing an immediate removal of gas. Instead, it changes the incentives for keeping it.
At the moment, landlords can leave gas systems in place without facing ongoing costs, while tenants continue paying the supply charges. Under this proposal, that dynamic changes. Keeping a gas connection would come with a recurring expense for the owner.
Over time, that could make electrification the more practical option, not just from an environmental standpoint, but from a cost perspective as well.
Why this changes the decision for landlords
For landlords, the current setup is easy to ignore. If a gas system is still working, there’s no immediate pressure to replace it. The upfront cost of upgrading sits with the owner, while the ongoing supply charges are paid by the tenant. So the connection stays, even if it’s barely being used. That’s what Rewiring Australia is trying to change.
If landlords were made responsible for those fixed charges, keeping a gas connection would start to carry a real cost. Not a one-off decision, but something that adds up over time.
At that point, it’s no longer just a question of whether an upgrade is worth the investment. It becomes a comparison between paying to keep gas in place or replacing it with something that removes that cost altogether. And once you frame it that way, holding onto gas becomes harder to justify, especially as appliances age and need replacing anyway.
Where policy is starting to move
Governments are already starting to deal with the same issue from a different angle. Rental energy standards are tightening, and electrification is becoming part of that conversation. Instead of focusing on who pays the ongoing costs, these policies focus on what landlords are required to install or replace.
Victoria (VIC) is one of the clearest examples. From May 2027, rental properties will no longer be able to replace certain gas systems with new gas units once they reach the end of their life. Hot water systems are a key part of this, with efficient electric alternatives expected instead.
It doesn’t force immediate upgrades across the board, but it does mean that, over time, gas systems will disappear from rental homes as they wear out.
Seen alongside Rewiring Australia’s proposal, the direction becomes more obvious. One approach changes who carries the cost of keeping gas, while the other limits how long gas systems can remain in place.
Both point to the same underlying reality: holding onto gas in rental properties is becoming harder to justify.
What changes from here
For renters, the issue becomes easier to spot. If gas use is low but bills are still high, a large part of that cost may be coming from the connection itself. That’s the part they have no control over, and the part these proposals are trying to address.
It also changes how tenants can approach conversations with landlords. Instead of focusing only on upgrades, there’s a clearer argument around the cost of keeping gas connected in the first place.
For landlords, the pressure is building from more than one direction. On one side, proposals like Rewiring Australia’s are questioning why tenants should carry ongoing gas costs. On the other hand, tightening rental standards are gradually reducing how long gas systems can remain in place.
All in all, it becomes less about whether electrification will happen and more about when it makes sense to act. Waiting may still feel like the easier option in the short term. But over time, holding onto gas is likely to come with more cost, more constraints, and fewer straightforward replacement options.
Gas is becoming less central in many homes, but renters are still paying to stay connected to it.
As proposals like Rewiring Australia’s gain attention and policies tighten, the question is no longer just about usage, but about who should carry the cost of keeping gas in place.
Energy Matters has been in the solar industry since 2005 and has helped over 40,000 Australian households in their journey to energy independence.
Complete our quick Solar Quote Quiz to receive up to 3 FREE solar quotes from trusted local installers – it’ll only take you a few minutes and is completely obligation-free.
