Over the past year and a half, a groundswell of California cities and counties have embraced the environmental movement to end the use of natural gas in buildings.
Now, supporters of the effort are looking ahead to further victories this year — despite legal challenges and opposition from some business leaders.
Forty jurisdictions in the state have mandated or encouraged all-electric new construction or placed limits on how gas infrastructure can be used.
More are expected to consider similar policies this year, including Sacramento, Santa Barbara and others in Southern California, according to the Sierra Club.
“The impact of 2020 is this concept is becoming mainstream, and it’s setting us up for even more wins in 2021,” said Matt Gough, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club’s My Generation campaign.
All-electric advocates hope for a major win statewide this summer as the California Energy Commission updates energy efficiency standards for buildings. Commissioners are considering how much to embrace ending natural gas in homes and businesses.
The movement took root in California in July 2019, when Berkeley became the first city in the United States to ban natural gas in most new buildings.
A backlash followed: About four months later, the city was hit with a lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association, which argued that the move would harm businesses and violated the law. The case is ongoing.
Farther north in Sonoma County, the town of Windsor just rescinded its all-electric building code because of a lawsuit from a local developer. Staring down high legal costs with the town budget already challenged by the pandemic, the Windsor Town Council begrudgingly agreed Wednesday to a settlement that walks back the electric building code.
Still, Windsor leaders said they remain committed to fighting climate change, mindful of the consequences of severe wildfires that have plagued Wine Country in recent years.
“We have all seen the results of climate change here, which are now becoming more disastrous ever year,” Councilwoman Deb Fudge said in an interview. “Anything a jurisdiction can do to electrify with renewable energy sources is the way to go. Windsor was trying to set an example for other cities.”
Fudge will propose an alternate measure to phase out natural gas “in the near future,” she said at Wednesday’s council meeting.
Regardless of the legal obstacles, natural gas bans remain a growing focus of California environmentalists who want fossil fuels removed from the building sector, where they account for about a quarter of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions when considering both gas used on site and in power demand, according to the California Air Resources Board. Santa Barbara leaders may advance an all-electric code Tuesday, and Sacramento could adopt its own ordinance in coming months.
The Bay Area remains “really the epicenter of this movement,” said Pierre Delforge, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Cities that passed or expanded electric building codes in 2020 include major population centers San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.
“We (didn’t) have many positive things in 2020, but I think that’s one of them,” Delforge said. “This is a game changer in terms of changing the conversation around climate and gas ... it’s sending a clear signal that gas is not a part of the future in buildings.”
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has not resisted the Bay Area gas bans, recognizing that investing too much in its gas system would be futile in the long run as cities and counties increasingly go all-in on electricity.
PG&E spokeswoman Ari Vanrenen said in an email that the company “supports local government policies that promote all-electric new construction when cost effective.”
Still, gas advocates argue that stringent building codes are unfair to restaurants, especially those making dishes that have traditionally relied on gas stoves. That is a major concern cited by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which has worried in public statements that San Francisco’s efforts to prohibit gas in new buildings could “put additional restrictions on the spaces available for restaurants moving into new developments.”
San Francisco supervisors ultimately gave new buildings with commercial space more time to comply with its new gas ban, and set up a waiver process they can apply for afterward. The city’s ban takes effect for everyone else on June 1.
Gas advocates point out that many customers don’t buy electric stoves and heaters on the market now, perhaps because of high costs or personal preference.
They say pro-electric building codes will raise costs for consumers, given California’s steep electricity rates, and that installing new appliances can be expensive.
While costs are a huge concern for households struggling in the current economic climate, electric building code supporters say appliances that don’t use gas can actually be more efficient, thus driving down costs. Incentive programs and a growing supply should also make the appliances themselves less expensive over time, said Delforte of the resources defense council.
As for what it’s like to use the appliances, Bay Area architect Scott Shell said the modern electric stove — a major focus of people concerned about gas bans — is far different from similar devices made in earlier decades. Induction cooktops are extremely efficient, heating water far faster than a gas stove, for example. Many skeptics are simply unfamiliar with the technology, said Shell, who has designed buildings with all-electric facilities.
“I think once people start doing it, they’re going to like it,” Shell said. “I grew up with one of those coil electric stoves — it was really slow and clunky and I hated it. But that’s not what we’re talking about. The new electric ones perform very well.”
J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
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Bay Area natural gas bans spread in 2020. They’re not done yet - San Francisco Chronicle
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