The steady pace of votes on local building gas bans and electrification codes throughout 2020 ground to a halt over the last seven weeks as states across the country imposed restrictions to contend with the coronavirus pandemic. Despite those limits, some local governments incrementally advanced measures to sideline natural gas use in buildings, and one more state Legislature voted to prohibit gas bans.
California, the epicenter of the movement, goes quiet
April was the first full month of 2020 during which no building electrification codes or gas bans passed in California. The tally has been stuck at 30 since March 24 when Santa Cruz adopted a gas ban.
Several cities are likely to hold votes this summer, but the timing remains "really tricky" given the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, according to Sage Welch, founder at communications company Sunstone Strategies, whose clients include the Building Decarbonization Coalition. Yet the movement is not on hold, Welch said, noting that Los Altos recently held a webinar on electrification codes and will continue collecting public input online through the end of May.
Local politicians in San Luis Obispo also sought to advance an electrification code but canceled an April 7 vote after a prominent opponent threatened to flood the meeting with hundreds of protesters, putting lawmakers and attendees at risk of contracting COVID-19. "If the city council intends to move forward with another reading on a gas ban I can assure you there will be no social distancing in place," Eric Hofmann, president of Utility Workers Union of America Local 132, wrote in a March 16 email to city staff that was obtained by the Climate Investigations Center and made public in early May.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors staff pushed back a goal of finalizing and introducing a comprehensive all-electric construction ordinance from the end of April to June. The timing will continue to depend on overall conditions, according to Jacob Bintliff, legislative aide to Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.
The California Energy Commission approved San Francisco's electric-preferred construction ordinance, along with building electrification codes passed in Mill Valley, Pacifica, Cupertino and Saratoga, at its April 8 meeting.
Washington and Massachusetts see little progress
In Bellingham, Wash., a requirement to retrofit gas-powered home heating systems with electric alternatives remains on pause as public bodies across the state restrict work to routine and necessary activity and COVID-19 response. City staff recently created a framework for researching the electrification ordinance and other climate policies, but state restrictions prevent the city council from hosting public forums and conducting nonessential policy work.
"Because of COVID, substantive deliberations to identify which measures might go into program development are on hold at least for a few months," Mark Gardner, the council's legislative policy analyst, said recently.
The Seattle City Council was likewise only considering legislation related to COVID-19 through the end of April, according to Stephanie Guzman-Barrera, the council's deputy communications director. That has stopped momentum on a gas ban in the Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee.
COVID-19 and social distancing have presented a particular challenge for Arlington, Mass., where a legislative body composed of 252 residents gathers to vote on proposed bylaws. A warrant article that would ban gas infrastructure in new buildings was on the agenda for the April 27 town meeting, but the virus forced Arlington to push off the session for 30 days. Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine said the town is aiming for a June 15 meeting, after Arlington holds rescheduled local elections.
A gas ban under consideration in Cambridge, Mass., also remained on hold, though City Councilman Quinton Zondervan said he hopes to hold stakeholder meetings this summer and advance the ordinance in the fall. The city council in nearby Newton, Mass., held webcasts on building electrification technologies and costs April 22 and May 13 and plans to address policy options for implementing an ordinance in future remote meetings.
Oklahoma poised to become 3rd state to block gas bans
Oklahoma appears set to join Arizona and Tennessee in preventing local governments from prohibiting the use of natural gas in buildings.
The GOP-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives sent House Bill 3619 to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on May 13 after the Senate voted 38-7 to approve the legislation. The bill bars cities, towns and counties from restricting or prohibiting access to utility services through building or construction ordinances. It also prohibits local rules or codes that discriminate against utilities based on the nature of the service they provide.
The vote largely fell along party lines, with six of the Senate's nine Democrats and one Republican opposing the bill. During the March 9 House vote, 16 of 23 Democrats cast no votes, while another three Democrats were excused from voting.
As in Arizona and Tennessee, there were no local governments advocating for gas bans in Oklahoma. The bill's supporters instead invoked electrification codes in other states. Opponents, making a case for local control and small government, countered that even Oklahoma's most liberal cities were unlikely to pursue gas bans.
"We are about to pass a bill that tells duly elected officials at the local level that they cannot do what they think is best for their town because Big Brother in Oklahoma City knows better than they do," Sen. Greg McCortney, the lone Republican to vote against the bill, said during floor debate. "We get mad when people in Washington, D.C., do this to the state of Oklahoma, but we are happy to do it to our local municipalities because some town somewhere doesn't love natural gas."
Republicans said there are times when state preemption is appropriate, arguing energy is a statewide issue and fossil fuel development is important to Oklahoma's economy.
"This is one of those times," Republican Sen. Lonnie Paxton said. "I stand in support of the oil and gas industry in this state to make sure that some political group does not step into a council somewhere and go in and ban a fossil fuel simply because it is a fossil fuel."