Hawthorn’s free electrification expo drew its biggest crowd yet last weekend, as households sought advice on cutting energy costs.
Held at the Hawthorn Arts Centre on Sunday, the event connected residents with installers and experts on solar panels, home batteries and heat pumps.
With the state election in November, Labor, the Coalition and One Nation are offering very different answers on gas, rebates and who pays.
The forum offered a key opportunity for locals to ask questions about the options currently available to them – and what could change in the future.
What happened? A joint effort between not-for-profit community group Electrify Boroondara and Boroondara City Council, the Electrify Your Life Expo launched in 2023, attracting more than 1,200 people. In 2025, the attendance figures exceeded 2,000 people.
About 35 commercial businesses provided advice and answered questions throughout the day, including seven electric vehicle dealers, as well as about nine not-for-profit groups and other industry experts on the main floor. Image Credit: Julian Meehan
What’s the plan? Electrification is top of mind for Victorians. Introduced in 2022, the state government’s Gas Substitution Roadmap will require new homes to be all-electric from January 1 2027.
From March 1 2027, if an existing household gas hot water system fails and cannot be repaired, it must be replaced with an efficient electric alternative.
If you own a rental property, that extends to heating as well, should the system break and cannot be repaired.
Homeowners with gas systems will not be forced to immediately make the switch, though new builds will need to be electric.
What others said: The Victorian Liberals have promised to abandon the requirement for households to replace broken gas hot water systems with an electric alternative.
The Coalition’s spokesperson on energy and emissions reduction, David Davis, has previously publicly attacked the Victorian Energy Upgrades program as driving up energy bills.
The numbers: An assessment of the program’s achievements between 2021 and 2024 found participating households saved an average of $110 on their energy bills.
The PHON pledge: One Nation has also committed to reverse restrictions on gas connections in new homes, but has not detailed its position on existing gas systems.
In its 64-page “Real Deal” policy booklet, One Nation Victoria said it would abandon all Net Zero targets and subsidies, instead basing energy policy on “price, reliability and what is best for Victorian families and industry”.
The advocate: In December 2023, voice-over artist Sarah Aubrey launched the Electrify This advocacy and social media platform to document her experience with electrifying her 115-year-old home in Sydney.
Aubrey said she believes the growing interest in events like the expo come from a fatigue from the negativity of online conversations around sustainability and a simple desire to spend less on inefficient energy sources.
🗣️“Many people would like to do things but just don't know where to start,” she told the Eastern Melburnian. “They’re sick of being beholden to the ridiculous prices at the petrol bowser, or that their energy bill is through the roof and they’re getting bill shock.”
The organiser: Electrify Boroondara deputy chair Russell Williams said the growth of the numbers over the years was a sign of the increasing popularity of electrification.
“Years ago, people were asking what it was and now they're mostly asking how to do it,” he told the Eastern Melburnian. “Instead of the what and why, it's more about how and who can help me.”
Image Credit: Julian Meehan
The local: At the end of 2024, Camberwell resident Richard Cowan and his wife installed a nine-kilowatt solar system across 18 panels and a 25 kilowatt-hour battery storage.
He attended the 2025 expo to look into additional electrification options, such as replacing their gas cooktop with an induction stove.
🗣️ “The people were all knowledgeable and helpful and went carefully through the steps,” Cowan told the Eastern Melburnian. “You could spend an enormous amount of time researching things, whereas this expo brought it all together.”
Thumbnail Image Credit: Tereza Kalinova/Julian Meehan