Gas network plan

Our gas network 2026–2031 engagement strategy outlines the engagement we will undertake on our Reference Service Proposal and five-year plan, which will be submitted to the AER by 30 June 2024 and 30 June 2025. Our strategy builds on:

• our Stakeholder Engagement Strategy
• previous regulatory review process experience
• ongoing customer research
• insights from other gas distribution businesses
• industry best practices.

This strategy will adapt as our engagement progresses. You can also explore the high-level summary of the strategy.

Our community forum has been established to help us better understand the values and long-term interests of our customers and make informed decisions over the next five years and through to 2045.

The group of community representatives will meet across seven sessions between May and November 2024. During these sessions, we are hearing customers' views on how we can plan out a fair and equitable transition path for the future.

Although Evoenergy gives input to the topics discussed, the forum is facilitated by independent engagement specialists, Communication Link.

Communication Link midway report

The midway report, by Communication Link, provides a summary of the discussions and feedback heard from the first three meetings of the community forum.

 

Community forum recommendations report

At session 6, the community forum members prepared an independent report on their key areas of discussion and conclusions, including the values Evoenergy should consider while planning for the 2026–2031 period and beyond.

Session presentations and summaries

The below presentations and summaries provide an overview of what was discussed in each community forum session and what the outcomes were.

Forum participants have contributed to and reviewed the summaries.

• Session 1 presentation and summary
• Session 2 presentation and summary
• Session 3 presentation and summary
• Session 4 presentation and summary
• Session 5 presentation and summary
• Session 6 presentation and summary
• Session 7 presentation and summary

 

Guest speaker series

As part of our Community Forum process, we hosted a Guest Speaker Series on 3, 17 and 24 July 2024. This series featured insightful presentations from the ACT Government, ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) and the Chair of Evoenergy’s Energy Consumer Reference Council.

Session 1: The first session covered the ACT Government’s recently released Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) which outlines the ACT’s path to electrification.

Session 2: The second session highlighted the perspectives of vulnerable customers in the ACT energy transition, providing valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities.

Session 3: The final session of the series discussed Australia’s energy transition and examined how the ACT fits into the national picture. It also explored customer perspectives, values, and priorities during the transition.

Below are session presentations and summaries providing an overview of what was discussed in each session and key learnings:

• Guest session 1 presentation and summary
• Guest session 2 presentation and summary
• Guest session 3 presentation and summary

The Energy Consumer Reference Council (ECRC), established in 2014, is a forum of diverse stakeholders, including representatives from business, community, social services, and varied demographics. It fosters strong relationships between Evoenergy and consumers, promoting open dialogue on key operational and strategic issues. The ECRC enables members to raise concerns, understand network service and pricing decisions, and stay informed on the ACT’s ‘Pathway to electrification’, while providing Evoenergy with feedback to inform regulatory planning and consumer impact considerations.

Our independent advisory forum, the Energy Regulatory Advisory Panel (ERAP) was established in December 2023 and concluded in October 2024.

Its member contributions informed Evoenergy’s engagement program and discussions on regulatory approaches for the 2026–2031 gas network access arrangement.

The ERAP acknowledged the significant challenges for gas consumers in applying the current regulatory framework in the context of the ACT’s ‘Pathway to electrification’.

About our ERAP

Members:

• Dr Andrew Nance (ERAP Chair), Independent Consultant – The Energy Project
• Wendy Russell, Research Fellow Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program – Australian National University
• Katherine Lowe, Director – Axiom Economics (December 2023 to August 2024)
• Louise Benjamin, Regulatory Consultant and Lecturer – College of Law NSW
• Gavin Dufty, National Director, Energy Policy and Research – St Vincent de Paul Society Australia National

ERAP Operational Guidelines

• Operational Guidelines

Meeting documents

• Meeting 1 presentation, dashboard report and summary
• Meeting 2 presentation, dashboard report and summary
• Meeting 3 presentation and summary
• Meeting 4 presentation and summary
• Meeting 5 presentation and summary
• Meeting 6 presentation and summary

Our pulse check on customer preferences

In April 2024, we engaged Sagacity Research to undertake a survey of the preferences and intentions of residential gas customers. We heard from around 1,600 customers who told us:

• They are increasingly inclined to switch their existing gas appliances to electric ones (including their cooktops)
• They are unlikely to switch appliances that are still working, but will replace their gas appliances with electric ones at the point of failure
• The point of failure for their appliances is likely to occur within the next 5-10 years
• The key drivers for electrifying their homes are gas prices and environmental concerns

You can see the full report from our gas demand survey here.

Please note in this report, demand uncertainty is defined as 'the proportion of customers likely to change existing gas appliances to electric appliances.'