California Regulators Ban Gas Appliances In San Francisco Bay Area

California regulators have voted Wednesday to ban water heaters and gas furnaces in one state’s most populated areas. This move will likely force locals to undertake costly home renovations.

The Bay Area Air Quality District Board is a group of nine appointees charged with reducing pollutants in California’s nine counties. They voted Wednesday to stop the installation of gas-powered appliances starting in 2027. The board recognized that electric appliances will cost homeowners thousands of dollars and that natural gas prices will rise as a result.

The move comes as Democrats all over the country focus on natural gas. Biden’s administration proposed a rule amendment that would effectively ban half of all gas stoves in America, something Democrats have claimed is not on the table.

The Bay Area ban on gas stoves does not apply, but that provides little relief for residents. The ban will increase the cost of living in the Bay Area, which is already expensive and where residents are more likely to move than any other part of the country. Residents raised objections through public comments letters. One Palo Alto resident noted that replacing his gas furnace might cost him up to $45,000.

One resident was worried that apartments in San Francisco and Oakland wouldn’t be able comply with the rule since new electric units will need ground space. Others noted that this move would raise already-soaring energy costs and housing price.

Californians already have seen their electricity prices increase by almost 70% since 2010, when the state stopped burning fossil fuels. Californian households pay almost 83% more than the average home elsewhere in the United States.

In their report, regulators acknowledged that the rules could increase infrastructure spending by $243 million to $1 trillion in addition to the cost of homeowners. The board assured locals it would monitor the costs and claimed that the rule could save 37-85 lives each year.

The board noted that 565 of 565 public comments were in support of the rule. The Sierra Club received 200 support comments. The majority of the supportive comments that were received by the Washington Free Beacon Form letters were.