In 2020, the Australian Capital Territory was one of the first regions in the world to achieve 100% of its electricity supply from renewable energy. To achieve the ACT Government goal of net zero emissions by 2045, working to reduce emissions from gas is essential – and ACT households are being encouraged to go electric.

The ‘Go Electric’ project will identify behavioural and structural policy options to speed a just transition for ACT households from gas to electric appliances, taking climate change mitigation and adaptation needs into account. This project is being undertaken by University of Canberra researchers, in a collaboration between researchers from the University’s Centre for Environmental Governance and Centre for a Better Canberra, both part of the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, together with the WellRes Unit of the Faculty of Health. The project will be segmenting ACT households by attitudinal and material barriers to electrification and identifying policy options to overcome these barriers that meet the needs of different Canberrans. The resulting white paper will constitute a comprehensive, cutting-edge approach to electrification that leans into and works with household sentiment and capacity to enact change to accelerate the transition.

To find out more about the project, please contact Jacki Schirmer (jacki.schirmer@canberra.edu.au)