This page provides an accessible version of the guide to our Draft 2025 Plan. If you would like to also view it as an interactive PDF, click here.

To view the full 130+ page document, click here.

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which we operate and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters, and culture.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.

Purpose

This document summarises the Draft 2025 Plan for Jemena Gas Networks.

Jemena Gas Networks map

Like many Australians, you might rely on gas for hot water, cooking and heating.

Jemena Gas Networks is a gas distribution company connecting 1.5 million customers with gas across Greater Sydney and New South Wales.

We keep gas flowing safely and reliably through the network. We also read your meter and provide this information to your gas retailer for billing purposes.

Overview of the Draft 2025 Plan

Over the last 18 months, we have been engaging with our customers and key stakeholders to understand their expectations and views on the services we provide and how we should best plan for, and support, the energy transition.

This Draft 2025 Plan summarises what we have learned and explains how these views have shaped our initiatives for our gas network over the period, 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2030. By publishing our plan, we aim to test whether we have correctly heard and understood these needs and expectations, including testing whether they are satisfied that our Draft 2025 Plan, when considered as a whole, supports the long-term interest of our customers.

The priorities of our customers can be summarised by their key values:

• Affordability – we heard that balancing the rising cost of living is a priority for our customers so that no one is left behind due to the energy transition. Our customers want us to consider affordability over the short and long-term when making decisions.
• Reliability and safety – we heard that customers want a safe and reliable gas service
• Fairness – our customers want us to consider fairness in context of the energy transition, and its impacts on both existing and future generations, and on our more price-sensitive customers. 
• Access to the gas network (Choice) - We heard that customers want the choice to be able to use gas both now and into the future, and that there should be diversity of supply.
• Environment – We heard from customers that they want us to contribute to a more sustainable environment in the future.

In developing our Draft 2025 Plan, we have sought to ensure that it is consistent with the National Gas Objective, including its recent update to recognise Commonwealth and State Government emissions targets, and to account for the recognition of biomethane and hydrogen blends within the regulatory framework with these new measures taking effect in mid-2024.

We welcome your feedback by Monday, 4 March 2024.

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Timeline

In recognising that we need to be adaptive to the needs of our customers, we have reviewed, refined and updated our engagement approach. This approach helps our customers and stakeholders to meaningfully participate in our process.

Strategic context and background to our Draft 2025 Plan

The energy system is undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation. We are operating in a period of significant uncertainty surrounding the future role of gas networks in the Australian energy landscape. This presents a complex challenge for us and our customers in determining how best to respond to the challenge in the long term interests of consumers.

Whilst we believe that our network can play a vital role in supporting the transition to net-zero, there is still much uncertainty about both the exact pathway and pace of the energy transition.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) forecasts residential and small commercial consumption to gradually decline in the short term, with electrification to reduce natural gas usage more significantly in the medium to longer term as the economy transitions to meet net zero emissions by 2050.

This uncertainty adds complexity to our planning processes but the need to act now is imperative – the earlier we start to address the challenges presented because of the rapid energy transition, the smoother the pathway to net zero will be. Our 2025 Plan will implement initiatives based on the best available information and provides flexibility to adjust these initiatives in the future as new information becomes available.

Regardless of how we respond to the energy transition, we must also continue to meet our regulatory obligations in the areas of safety, reliability, security, and the environment, which are key drivers of our expenditure forecasts for the 2025 Plan period.

Customer and stakeholder feedback on the Draft 2025 Plan will inform our Access Arrangement Revision Proposal that we will submit to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on 30 June 2024.

What our Draft 2025 Plan means for our customers

Our Draft 2025 Plan will ensure that we can continue to provide our customers with a safe and reliable service over the 2025-30 period, and puts in place a number of initiatives aimed at supporting a fair and equitable energy transition over the long term.

These initiatives include:

• Access to renewable gas
• A new approach to our connections strategy
• Bringing forward recovery of capital
• A targeted asset management approach.

While some of these initiatives place upward pressure on customer’s bills in the next five-year period, they will help provide greater stability to prices over the longer term. Most customers and stakeholders we spoke to recognise the need for action now to meet the challenges ahead, and to support the transition to net zero emissions by 2050. The bill impacts are shown across the different customer groups here.

What we've learned from you

We have engaged with over 3,500 customers and stakeholders since mid-2022. This has included key stakeholders such as retailers, large gas customers and small businesses. We’ve also engaged with our residential customers at forums and have met with over 40 participants seven times to date.

Our engagement with customers observes the benchmark for the industry, the Better Resets Handbook, and the International Association for Public Participation Core Values Framework inspires us.

It is important that all voices are heard, and our key voices engagement has included meeting with young people and culturally and linguistically diverse communities to hear their views.

From our conversations to date:

• Our Residential customers told us they would like to see renewable gas provided reliably and safely, and renewable gas education and communications. They also said affordability and looking after vulnerable customers is important over the next five years. They believe that Jemena should incorporate energy options for young people as well as those that are culturally and linguistically diverse, with decisions made with all Australians in mind. These decisions need to be measurable, tangible and proactive.
• Large customers have an interest in using renewable gas to meet net zero goals, however, they are also concerned about rising prices and affordability.
• Small businesses are most concerned about affordability and pricing, and what the energy transition may look like for their business, as this may impact their investment decisions in things like appliances.
• Retailers told us that choice was important when it came to energy. They also agreed renewable gas should be considered and were in support of additional support for vulnerable customers.
• We also spoke to our Advisory Board. Its feedback emphasised the principles of ’do no harm’ when considering impacts on customers. It also highlighted that the energy transition will require extensive investment, communication and consultation, and that looking after the most vulnerable customers in this is vitally important.

Customer values

Household customers identified these values to guide the Draft 2025 Plan. These values helped guide the consultation and decision-making process

Customer forum preferences

As we progressed our engagement we sought particular views on areas that would help Jemena and our customers through the transition. This is what our household customers told us.

How we've used customer feedback in the Draft 2025 Plan

How will we minimise impacts on customers over the next five years, while still embracing opportunities, and keeping choices open for customers during the transition?

How to navigate the Draft 2025 Plan

The documentation in our Draft 2025 Plan is long and detailed.

This guide will assist you in finding your way to the areas and topics that are most important to you.

iv	Summary
Ch. 1	Background: Setting the scene
Ch. 2	How our customers have shaped our plans
Ch. 3	Responding to the energy transition
Ch. 4	Our planned capital investments
Ch. 5	Our operating expenditure requirements
Ch. 6	The revenue we require to deliver on our 2025 Plan
Ch. 7	Forecasting our connections and gas consumption
Ch. 8	Accessing our network
Ch. 9	Pricing for current and future generations

How to get involved

We invite customers and stakeholders to review this document and share thoughts and feedback with us.

To view the 130+ page full document, click here.

Complete the feedback survey now or give feedback via email: yournetwork@jemena.com.au

Submissions and feedback close on 4 March 2024.