Member for Northern Victoria Amanda Miller announced $85 million would be spent on connecting 11 country towns to gas.

The other towns include Invermay, Lakes Entrance, Orbost, Terang, Swan Hill Robinvale and Nathalia.

Brookfield Infrastructure Group was awarded the tender to connect the gas.

"I am thrilled to say the Coalition government has delivered and we are now on our way to switching on this important connection that will reduce the cost of energy for locals," she said.

She said the project would commence in October and take four years to complete.

She said it would go ahead regardless of the election outcome.

Deputy premier and Nationals leader Peter Ryan outlined the plan in Swan Hill this morning.

“I am pleased to announce today that this is no hoax, we have honoured our promise and more, going over and above our brief by reaching agreement to connect an additional four Murray River communities to natural gas," he said.

Deputy Leader of The Nationals, Peter Walsh, was with Mr Ryan.

He said gas would be distributed by building gas stations on the outskirts of town and gas would be connected to homes by pipes.

Mr Walsh said connecting the 11 communities to reticulated natural gas using compressed natural gas was an Australian first and could provide the future solution to connecting natural gas to other towns across regional Australia.

“While natural gas has historically been transmitted via pipelines from the main grid, the high cost of laying long-distance pipes has meant a different approach was needed if we were to continue rolling out gas across regional and rural Victoria,” Mr Walsh said

But Labor Party Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards said the plan was dangerous, expensive and not environmentally sustainable.

She said building large gas stations in high-risk bush fire areas such as Maldon could pose a threat to the community.

She said the price of gas would rise dramatically in coming years and the government should have looked at installing cheaper and more environmentally friendly energy sources such as wind farms and solar.

"These alternatives haven't been investigated by this government, in their hellbent determination to deliver gas," she said.