The National Infrastructure Commission estimated in October 2023 that decommissioning the gas networks would cost £25 billion1. The figure appears in the Committee of Public Accounts report Decarbonising home heating, published on 26 May 2024, which examined the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's progress on cutting emissions from the UK's 28 million homes1.
The committee raised the estimate in the context of uncertainty over the future role of hydrogen in home heating. It said early planning for any decommissioning of the gas networks, if hydrogen is decided to have a limited role and electricity becomes the main energy source, is vital to manage costs of the kind passed to the taxpayer in other sectors, such as nuclear and oil and gas1. The committee recommended that DESNZ set out by end-June 2025 how it would undertake any required decommissioning of the gas networks1.
The £25 billion figure sits alongside other costs in the report. Heating homes accounted for 18% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions in 20211. The government has committed £6.6 billion from 2021-22 to 2024-25 for schemes to improve energy efficiency and install low-carbon heating, plus an additional £6 billion from 2025-26 to 2027-281. At around £11,600, an average heat pump is currently four times more expensive than a gas boiler, whereas a new gas boiler was typically £2,500 to £3,0001. Installation costs fell by up to 6% between 2021 and 2023, to £11,2871.
The report also records the state of the government's hydrogen heating trials. DESNZ announced in July 2023 that it was no longer proceeding with supporting a village trial in Whitby, and in December 2023 that it would not proceed with the other proposed village trial site in Redcar1. On 9 May 2024 DESNZ announced it had decided not to progress work on a hydrogen town pilot until after the 2026 strategic decisions1. The committee said this means information on the pilot will not feed into the decision on hydrogen's role due in 20261.
"In October 2023, the National Infrastructure Commission estimated that the cost of decommissioning the gas networks would be £25 billion"
Why it matters for households
The gas network is the infrastructure most UK homes rely on for heating and hot water. A £25 billion decommissioning bill is a national figure, not a household charge, and no source here sets out how, or whether, it would be recovered from billpayers. What the estimate does show is that the eventual decision on hydrogen's role carries a cost that falls due whichever way it goes, and that the committee wants that planning started before the decision is made1.
For a household, the practical question is what replaces the gas connection. The report states that in October 2023 DESNZ set out that heat pumps and heat networks will be the main low-carbon heating technologies over the next decade1. It also notes that an estimated 20 per cent of homes might be exempt from the plan to phase out new fossil fuel boilers by 2035, including those needing energy efficiency upgrades or lacking space for a heat pump, such as densely populated urban areas and blocks of flats1. DESNZ considers heat networks the next major alternative for those areas and intends to invest some £868 million in heat networks up to 20281. The committee warned that connecting customers to heat networks through zoning could increase running costs for residents relative to the gas systems they replace1.
Where a home keeps a gas connection, it remains exposed to the network's future. Where it disconnects from the gas grid, the costs and process of doing so are a separate matter; the report does not set out household-level disconnection costs. The report also notes that DESNZ does not hold or collect information on whether heat pumps that have been sold have been installed, and has no single measure of installations1.
What happens next
The report is the Thirty-Seventh Report of the Committee of Public Accounts in Session 2023-24, and the government has two months to respond1. The committee's recommendations include that DESNZ set out by end-June 2025 how it will undertake any required decommissioning of the gas networks1, and that it outline by end-December 2024 which types of properties and regions it does not expect to be suitable for a heat pump and what alternatives are available to them1. DESNZ is also due to decide on the role of hydrogen for heating in 20261.
Sources1 cited
- Decarbonising home heating - Committee of Public Accounts, publications.parliament.uk