Secret talks on gas network

ATCO Australia and Western Australia's government discussed the future of Albany's LPG network in confidential meetings eight months before customers were told it would be scrapped.

The confidential briefing

A confidential briefing note marked In Strictest Confidence was sent to the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification on May twenty-eighth, twenty twenty-five, about the Albany gas network.

“In Strictest Confidence: Albany Gas network”

Minister's meeting with ATCO

Energy Minister Amber Jade Sanderson met with ATCO a week after the briefing note. She said the conversation was courteous but frank, with ATCO saying the network was no longer commercially viable.

“The conversation was courteous, but frank”

Mayor criticises lack of notice

City of Albany Mayor Greg Stocks said ATCO should have told the city sooner. He called it particularly rude that residents were blindsided and the city could not negotiate with alternative suppliers.

“I think it was particularly rude that ATCO had not informed us”

ATCO's explanation

ATCO said any change to its licence conditions required approval by the Economic Regulation Authority, so consulting the state government first was appropriate before announcing the decision.

Community pushes back

More than two thousand five hundred people signed a petition in August calling for the state government to take over the network or find an alternative supplier to keep gas in Albany.

Government rules out takeover

Energy Minister Amber Jade Sanderson said the government will not take over the network. She said it is at the end of its technical life and customers must transition to bottled gas or electricity.

“The least-cost result is to allow customers to transition either to bottled gas or to electrification.”