Many Canberrans will have reasonably recent memories of a time when the government was spruiking natural gas as the cleanest and most efficient source of energy.
But this was well before the ACT government's 2022 commitment to phase out gas use in the territory, with a view to switching off the network by 2045.
The journey to that future date was never going to be smooth, given how many households run on gas, and the cost of replacing appliances and heating systems.
Many such systems were, at some point, considered and considerable investments, made at a time when gas was the anointed best choice.
Replacing a central heating system is no small thing, even with government subsidies and incentives.
Nor is switching hot water systems, or swapping a stovetop.
But many Canberrans are environmentally responsible, and eager to make the most sustainable choice where they can.
The news that total gas emissions have dropped considerably in the past two years, while the amount of gas used by household customers has fallen by 44 per cent between 2010 and 2024, is a reminder that this much lauded transition can't be left to the economy to sort out by default.
Many Canberrans are environmentally responsible, and eager to make the most sustainable choice where they can.
But the ACT government has long maintained it does not want to ban selling new gas appliances before switching off the network by 2045, preferring instead to encourage customers not to buy new gas equipment, like heaters, stoves and ovens.
Soaring gas costs have also been an added incentive to make the switch, something that hasn't changed since the transition was first announced.
But if the transition is occurring more swiftly than anticipated, as suggested in a government discussion paper, the territory will need to come up with a more detailed plan to account for an already uneven process.
Some Canberrans have the resources to make the switch well before the cut-off, and many more do not. The prospect that the latter could be left behind as the territory surges towards its goal is not desirable.
Evo Energy, which operates the ACT's gas network, estimates about 40,000 customers - about a third - will stop using gas between now and 2031.
It's projected a 24 per cent decline in total gas use across the network in the same period, with the biggest drops expected among household gas users.
Retailers of gas appliances will need to play a role in the lead-up, including possibly providing information about the impending gas shut-off to customers buying gas appliances. This has a precedent in the point-of-sale information that was mandated ahead of the ACT's 2011 plastic shopping bag ban.
There's also the possibility the government could regulate what gas fitters are allowed to install in the ACT, a potentially "highly complex" approach that could phase in bans on different types of appliances.
This would involve calculating the expected life of gas assets - commercial ovens, say, versus a household cooking appliance - against the rate of change.
The government is also considering minimum standards for rental properties that would require landlords to replace gas appliances with electric versions to ensure vulnerable people are not left behind in the transition.
Whatever the approach, the process can't be left to chance this far out from the end result.
