NSW Premier Chris Minns rules out following Victoria's gas ban

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has put a line through suggestions the state could follow Victoria in banning gas in new-built homes.

"We're not pursuing that," he told Ben Fordham on 2GB.

Victoria's Energy and Resources Minister Lily D'Ambrosio confirmed last week that residential planning permits approved from the beginning of 2024 will only allow electrical connections, while all new public buildings that have not already reached the design stage will also become all-electric.

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Around 80 per cent of Victorian homes are currently connected to gas, meaning the state has the highest use of residential gas in the country.

Minns said the energy challenges faced by NSW and Victoria were different.

He said only seven per cent of NSW emissions came from gas, less than half of what it was in Victoria (17 per cent).

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A gas flame burns under a pot on a gas stove top.

And he said NSW needed gas both for industry and to fill the gap that will be left by oncoming baseload power removals from the grid.

"I don't need another complication or another policy change," he said.

Minns said that most experts believed the switch to electric homes would occur, but he would not look to force it.

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For many people, switching to an electric home offered "significant savings" of $1000 to $7000 a year, he said.

Gas was more expensive for many people due to the connection and infrastructure costs, but Minns said it was "part of the energy mix of the future".

The gas ban will take place in Victoria from January 1 next year.

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NSW Premier Chris Minns rules out following Victoria's gas ban
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