Gas ban opponents recently captured some of the momentum in the ongoing battle over building electrification, with several states advancing laws to block local governments from prohibiting natural gas hookups in new construction. Still, the San Francisco Bay Area's building movement charged ahead in February and March, while lawmakers in Seattle breathed new life into a stalled effort to implement the Pacific Northwest's first gas ban.

Seattle City Council gets gas ban back on track

Seattle put a building electrification ordinance on this year's docket after opposition from a diverse group of regional stakeholders blocked efforts to swiftly implement a building gas ban last fall.

The Seattle City Council on March 4 adopted its 2020 work plan. The roadmap includes gas ban legislation developed by former Councilman Mike O'Brien, who spearheaded the push to adopt the ordinance before stepping down from the council at the end of 2019.

Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant's committee will take up the gas ban legislation developed by former Councilman Mike O'Brien in 2019. AP Photo

The legislation moved from the defunct Transportation and Sustainability Committee to the newly formed Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee chaired by Councilmember Kshama Sawant. It is one of several Green New Deal measures the committee plans to tackle this legislative session.

"This shows there is a commitment from Councilwoman Sawant to take up this legislation, but there is currently not a timeline as to when this legislation will be in committee this year," Stephanie Guzman-Barrera, the council's deputy director of communications, said in an email.

O'Brien attempted to hold a vote on the legislation in September 2019, but a well-organized coalition of home hearth and fireplace manufacturers, labor unions, and local distribution company Puget Sound Energy Inc. convinced him to delay the vote and convene stakeholder meetings.

O'Brien continued to meet throughout fall 2019 with fireplace manufacturers, building trades groups, union representatives, the restaurant industry and building professionals.

"The hope would be to finish those processes in the first half of next year and that would likely lead to some refinements of the policy," he said in November 2019.

State Republicans swiftly erect gas ban firewalls

Tennessee is on track to become the second state after Arizona to prohibit local governments from passing gas bans, with Oklahoma hot on its heels and similar legislation advancing in Minnesota and Missouri.

The Tennessee House of Representatives on March 9 passed legislation that bars political subdivisions from passing any ordinance, resolution, regulation, code or other measure to prohibit connections to utility services based on the type of energy distributed to customers. The Tennessee Senate passed the same bill on March 2, 2020.

Like the Arizona bill, it is broadly worded but the intention is to preempt any future effort to block access to natural gas utility service.

A law prohibiting gas bans drummed up bipartisan support in the Tennessee General Assembly, one of several state legislatures pursuing the legislation. AP Photo

"What we're seeing in some of the Western states is a trend where you're seeing some of the activist city councils that are basically passing an ordinance preventing people from connecting to propane or natural gas to heat their homes," Tennessee state Rep. Clark Boyd, the House bill's Republican sponsor, told the Utilities Subcommittee on Feb. 12. "It's not a problem in Tennessee right now, but we're just getting out ahead of it."

State Sen. Art Swann, who sponsored the Senate bill, called gas bans "misguided efforts" that ignore the fuel's role in reducing U.S. carbon emissions and complementing variable wind and solar power with flexible energy.

Republicans have introduced the legislation in all five states, but Tennessee's bill drew more bipartisan support than in Arizona, where only a handful of Democrats voted for the measure. Just eight of 26 House Democrats voted against the Tennessee bill, while two of the Senate's five Democrats opposed it. The bill still needs Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives is following close behind, passing House Bill 3619 to block cities, towns and counties from adopting measures to restrict access to utility services. The lopsided 77-16 vote was more partisan, with 16 of 23 Democrats voting against it and three more excused from voting.

In Missouri, a summary for Senate Bill 1048 is almost identical to the Tennessee legislation's abstract, while House and Senate bills in Minnesota specifically block prohibitions or moratoriums on natural gas utility service.

California lawmakers pass four more building electrification codes

Rivaling the sudden rise of anti-gas ban laws in the opening months of 2020 was the continued spread of building electrification codes in several counties surrounding California's Bay Area in February and March.

San Mateo County and the cities of Campbell, Hayward and Richmond all passed ordinances requiring electric systems in new buildings, bringing the total number of local California measures to limit gas use in homes and businesses to 29.

San Mateo on Feb. 11 became the second county in California after Marin County to adopt a region-wide reach code, or a policy that goes beyond state building standards. The measure requires electric-powered water and space heating and clothes drying in new buildings. The Sierra Club called it the "strongest" county-level reach code yet.

Meanwhile, Campbell's reach code passed on Feb. 4 requires all-electric space and water heating in new residential construction. Richmond's code, passed Feb. 18, mandates all-electric systems in large nonresidential and multifamily construction, but allows gas for cooking and fireplaces in new low-rise homes. Space and water heating account for roughly 90% of the typical home's gas use.

Hayward took a dual-track approach with a reach code passed on March 3. It requires all-electric systems for low-rise residential buildings except small accessory dwelling units. High-rise residences and nonresidential buildings must achieve higher energy ratings if they use gas systems.