Initiative 2066 tops your ballot this election, presenting a simple yes or no question.
That’s about the only straightforward thing about it. Welcome to the natural gas culture war.
If it passes, the initiative would further protect access to natural gas in Washington. It would also throw a wrench into the state’s plans to ease our reliance on climate-warming fossil fuels.
The initiative takes aim at recent building code changes that effectively require the use of heat pumps over their natural gas counterparts in new construction. It also targets legislation intended to help Puget Sound Energy, the state’s largest utility, plan its transition away from natural gas.
Washington would join dozens of other states that have passed similar laws prohibiting local bans on natural gas.
The Building Industry Association of Washington, the primary sponsor of the effort supporting the initiative, argues that it protects people’s choice to use natural gas amid a broader effort to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Opponents argue that the initiative’s backers mischaracterize commonsense regulations and have accused them of fearmongering over nonexistent bans on natural gas.
Less than two weeks from Election Day, voters, ballots in hand, are weighing their options. Another initiative, 2117, will decide the future of Washington’s fledgling carbon market, in which the state’s largest climate polluters pay to offset their emissions.
The stakes are high for Washington’s carbon-reduction goals. Heating buildings made up about one-fourth of the state’s emissions in 2019 and Puget Sound Energy is one of the state’s largest polluters. Seattle has also passed policies intended to phase out the use of fossil fuels in large existing buildings by 2050.
According to recent polling, about 44% of respondents said they back the initiative, 31% oppose it and around a quarter are undecided. Liberal respondents were about evenly split between voting yes and no on the initiative.
How did we get here?
Since March, new building codes make it effectively impossible to install fossil-fueled appliances to heat new homes and businesses. The codes, which were challenged in court by the BIAW, construction and natural gas industry groups, require builders to meet energy-efficiency targets that are difficult and expensive to reach without installing heat pumps.
In April, lawmakers also narrowly passed a law that changed regulatory processes for Puget Sound Energy, to help it comply with Washington’s climate laws, which aim for a clean electricity grid and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury.
Greg Lane, executive director of the BIAW, said lawmakers have openly talked about fully decarbonizing PSE (and turning off gas access).
“This whole argument that this is not a natural gas ban, when it is clearly the intention of the bill, is really frustrating here,” he said.
Lane pointed out the benefits of natural gas for a home. It can be more expensive to upgrade to all-electric appliances and gas is more reliable, especially with an increased strain on the grid from high demand or extreme weather, he said.
Opponents of the initiative, who include climate and low-income advocacy groups, have emphasized that state law requires natural gas to be available to customers who live in a gas utility’s service area. They say the PSE bill simply allows the utility to avoid rate shocks over decades as customers are already transitioning off gas and choosing energy-efficient heat pumps.
“This initiative is part of a broader nationwide trend by fossil fuel corporations that are trying to profit off of us at our expense,” said Leah Missik, a senior policy manager for the nonprofit Climate Solutions.
What would I-2066 do?
The initiative would add provisions to state law that explicitly protect access to natural gas and ensure that local governments and the state’s energy code cannot “prohibit, penalize or discourage the use of gas,” according to the initiative’s full text.
Under the state’s current energy code, buildings must meet a certain energy performance and those built with electric heat pumps are scored higher than gas appliances. If passed, the initiative would likely change that system; though the state’s building code council would have to go through a rule-making process.
The initiative would also take away requirements for Puget Sound Energy to study electrification efforts.
The initiative would prevent the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission from approving a plan from PSE that “requires or incentivizes” the utility to terminate natural gas service, or a plan that allows PSE to require customers to “involuntarily switch fuel” by either restricting access or making it cost-prohibitive.
If the initiative passes, PSE spokesperson Matt Steuerwalt said, the commission may still require the utility to study electrification — but the changes in the building code and for new construction will have the largest effect on how the utility plans for its future.
Right now, with the current building codes in place, the utility is expecting fewer new gas customers and better energy conservation, he said.
The initiative would allow PSE to incentivize residential customers to stay on gas with rebates.
The initiative is also supported by the Washington Hospitality Association and Let’s Go Washington, a political action committee behind the three other initiatives on the ballot. The BIAW’s political action committee, Main Street Matters to Washington, has received donations from gas and propane providers, builder associations and Koch Industries.
Opponents of the initiative include Sierra Club, Statewide Poverty Action Network, environmental justice group Front and Centered, and renewable energy groups.
