Washington state bans new natural gas hookups in higher population region

Washington state bans new natural gas hookups in higher population region

House passes natural gas ban, despite strained energy grid

Despite pleas asking customers to turn down their thermostats to reduce strain on the energy grid during the state's frigid cold snap earlier this month, Washington moved another step closer to banning natural gas.
In a 52-44-2 vote, Washington's House of Representatives passed House Bill 1589.
Among other things, the bill: Prohibits Puget Sound Energy (PSE) from providing natural gas service to new customers after June 2023; and Removes the requirement that PSE continue serving natural gas to existing customers.​

House passes natural gas ban, despite strained energy grid, BIAW, January 23, 2024

Puget Sound Energy is the provider of natural gas service to all the big city counties along the Puget sound, as well as a few additional outlying areas. (It includes Seattle, Everett, Tacoma, Bellevue, Puyallup, Bremerton, and Olympia) More than half the state's population is located within this area.

This is equivalent to banning new homes from having natural gas in these areas.

Usually every three years or so when there is a storm and powerline poles fall over, there are many areas that lose electrical power during the coldest part of the year. (Whereas loss of natural gas supply almost never happens)

The Puget sound area also has a strained electric grid, and struggles to be able to provide enough power during times of peak use. Part of this is due to the huge amount of population growth and development in the area, and part of it is their reluctance to build more gas-powered electric power plants. The push to get more homes to install electric heat pumps and use electric cars is only going to put additional strain on the electric supply grid, something which the state does not seem prepared for.

Electric heat pumps are more expensive than gas furnaces, electric power usually costs more than natural gas in these areas, and electric heat pumps may lose efficiency and sometimes not be able to keep the home as warm during the very coldest part of the winter some years in the Puget sound area.

Banning natural gas hookups is also going to mean these new homes will not have gas stoves; there are many people who hate using electric stoves. The stove can take a long time to warm up, and then remains dangerously hot for more than 15 minutes after being turned off. It's almost impossible to adjust and turn down the heat when cooking. For electric stoves, it takes a huge amount of electric power to create heat. (A typical electric stove and oven can use 7000 Watts)

Why is the state doing this? Because progressive environmentalists think using fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is bad. There's a big push in progressive areas to try to convert everything to electric, a mentality that "electric is good", despite the fact that not all of the electric supply being generated in these areas is from renewable sources.

another thread:
California will ban sales of gas furnace heaters and water heaters (Sep 23, 2022 )

 

In the words of Forrest Gump's mother: "Stupid is as stupid does."

 

It will mostly hurt democrats since they dominate those higher population areas thus their own leaders are screwing them over a false narrative, better to be cold than dead apparently.

 

It can also be pointed out that solar panels do not work so well in the Puget Sound area. The winters, which are long and have only a short period of daylight due to the northerly latitude, are rainy and cloudy most of the time. Unrelenting grey overcast skies are typical from November to April. In late December and early January it begins getting dark as soon as 4:20 pm. Even when the skies do begin clearing up later in the day, there are not many more hours of daylight left.

That region has a cool climate, and typically there might only be about 2 weeks out of the entire year when it gets hot enough that people will want to turn on air conditioning. (Heat waves do happen, but the vast majority of the year is not hot) As a result, almost the entire energy usage for heating and cooling is during the colder half of the year. Although even in the early summer, in June, the nights can often get cold enough that households may turn on heating.

 

how does a bipartisan bill like this pass the house?

 

Thats mostly on the WEST side of the Cascade range, but in my area is a bowl (Columbia Basin) where it has endless low clouds and fog for days at a time from mid November into mid February thus Solar is useless in winter.

 

But most of the "pro-environmentalists" who want to push things like solar and eliminate fossil fuels live in the west side.

Most of the area where natural gas is going to be banned is likewise on the west side.

My only point was that trying to collect solar heat or energy as a replacement for not being allowed natural gas will not really be a very practical or viable strategy.