Today's decision by the Allan Government to exclude cooktops from Victoria's Gas Substitution Roadmap is a temporary delay in the inevitable electrification of the state's household appliances.
Rewiring Australia supports the government making rules to ensure that when households choose to replace their old gas appliances they buy new electric ones.
Dan Cass, Executive Director of Rewiring Australia said, "Victoria's Gas Substitution Roadmap is a sensible plan to get all of the state's 2.6 million households to electrify, smashing bills and eliminating gas emissions.
"The whole point of the roadmap is when households replace gas appliances they substitute in an electric one.
"We already know the health impacts of burning gas in our homes. Asthma Australia research has shown that children living with gas stoves have a 42 per cent increased risk of having asthma, and are 24 per cent more likely to be diagnosed later in life.
"It makes no economic sense for households to keep one gas appliance because they have to pay the daily connection charge as if the whole house is using gas. Our advice is simple; if your last appliance is a gas stove, replace it today.
"The cheapest, safest and cleanest way to cook a meal is on an electric induction stove. The cost of keeping a stove connected to the gas network is 400% the cost of cooking an electric induction.
"People who already have the means to move off gas are already able to do so. Without government intervention and a ban that includes all appliances, poorer households will be left using an increasingly uneconomic and expensive gas network," said Mr Cass.
