Wesley Crittle has built his new home but he can’t move in – because he has to pay $15,000 to get a gas meter.
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But gas wholesaler Jemena said it will now review the situation.
For the last few months, the 76-year-old has been living in a single room at the back of his Thirroul antiques business, which has a view of his new house out the window.
Mr Crittle applied for a gas meter in February but heard nothing back for months.
In the interim he put in gas hot water, heating and cooking – and laid a pipe for the gas all the way to the street.
In June he found out the cost for his gas meter would be a massive $14,994. That’s far above what he claimed was the average cost of around $150.
A representative from gas wholesaler Jemena – responsible for gas infrastructure – told him they had to lay new pipe from across the road to connect his house.
This was despite a gas line running to his neighbour’s house.
A complaint met with the response that, if he could find four more customers, the price for the gas meter could be reduced.
“Had I found this when I first made the application in February, I wouldn’t have gone ahead and had all the gas fittings put in my house - I would have just gone with electric,” Mr Crittle said.
Mr Crittle said he was in a bind – he can’t afford the $15,000 gas meter, but he can’t move in without it.
“Now I’ve spent all this money, it’s all fitted and the gas pipes are all in place - it was an expensive job,” he said.
“I’m in the position where I either pay the money or I don’t have heating, hot water or cooking. Or I get it ripped out and all changed over to electric.”
A spokeswoman from Jemena apologised for the delay in assessing Mr Crittle's application – which he filed in February.
She said issues like local terrain and impact on existing infrastructure can affect the cost of meter installation.
“In Mr Crittle’s case, our assessment found we have to extend the gas main from across the road and this involves the closure of the road, and night works,” the spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said connection to the neighbouring property’s gas line wasn’t considered feasible in the initial assessment.
“We are reviewing this assessment and will contact Mr Crittle to discuss whether this is a viable option,” she said.
When installing a new gas line, it wasn’t unusual to look for multiple customers to spread out the cost.
“In this instance, as no other neighbours will be serviced by this mains extension, the bulk of the costs would have to be incurred by Mr Crittle,” she said.
