ATCO Australia decommissioning plan for Albany gas network drew scrutiny over early talks

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ATCO Albany gas decommissioning

Highlights

ATCO Australia and the Western Australia state government discussed the Albany gas network's closure at least eight months before informing customers, as revealed by FOI emails.
ATCO announced in January it will decommission the Albany gas network over three years due to aging infrastructure and high maintenance costs, forcing clients onto alternative energy.
Western Australia will not intervene or rescue the network, with over 2,500 people petitioning parliament in August and officials citing system obsolescence and lowest-cost transition for customers.

Government and company contacts before public notice

As first reported by ABC News, redacted emails obtained under Freedom of Information show ATCO Australia and the Western Australia state government discussed the future of the Albany gas network at least eight months before affected customers were informed of the decommissioning plan.

The documents include a confidential briefing note sent to the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification on May 28, 2025, under the subject line "In Strictest Confidence: Albany Gas network". They also show a meeting took place a week later between the utility and Energy Minister Amber Jade Sanderson to discuss the network's future.

Sanderson says she did not receive a copy of the briefing note but confirms she attended the meeting. She says ATCO argued the network was no longer commercially viable and was considering the commercial decision to exit, while the government made clear it would prefer the company not to walk away.

In a statement, ATCO says any change to its licence conditions requires approval from Western Australia's Economic Regulation Authority, and that this made it appropriate to consult the state government first when it began considering the network's future.

Regional business pressure and transition fallout

ATCO announced in January that it will decommission the Albany network over the next three years, citing aging infrastructure and high maintenance costs. The move forces customers onto alternative energy sources, including bottled gas or electrification.

For local businesses, the change raises operational and investment risks. Hayden Jones, who bought an Albany laundromat about three and a half years ago, says gas is essential to run dryers and hot water systems and that electricity is not a workable substitute for his business.

City of Albany Mayor Greg Stocks criticises the earlier private discussions, saying residents and businesses were blindsided by the announcement and should have been told sooner to help efforts to retain the network. Pressure on the state government has also grown, with a petition signed by more than 2,500 people tabled in parliament in August calling for intervention.

Sanderson says the government is not considering taking back the network or pursuing a public rescue option. She says the system is at the end of its technical life and would need to be entirely rebuilt, adding that the lowest-cost outcome is to allow customers to shift to bottled gas or electrification.

Our earlier article on India’s clean energy investment surge highlighted that capital flows into the energy transition rose 15% to $72 billion, lifting the country to fifth in global rankings. We noted that this reflects a broader structural shift toward funding new power, industrial-fuels, and transport infrastructure, reinforcing the momentum behind electrification and other transition pathways.

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