Should Cities Phase Out Gas Appliances and Require New Buildings to Be All Electric?

Wall Street Journal ^ | Jonathan A. Lesser

[karpov]

NO: A Ban Looks Good—Until You Do the Math

Those seeking to ban natural-gas hookups in new buildings say it will reduce local pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions, while saving end users money. Some also point to safety benefits: Fewer natural-gas lines means less potential damage during earthquakes.

When you compare the benefits and costs of such policies, however, you will find that their claims have little or no merit.

For starters, if consumers had an economic incentive to use electricity instead of natural gas, there would be no need for bans in the first place. With these kinds of analyses the devil is in the details, and one small detail is that in areas where natural gas is available, it is generally less costly to burn natural gas directly in homes and buildings for things like heating and cooking than to rely on electricity to provide equivalent end-use service.

Consider California, the state at the forefront of natural-gas-hookup bans. Last year, the average price of natural gas in California was about $12.30 per million British thermal units (a measure of the heat content of the fuel), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. For a homeowner with a new, 95% efficiency natural-gas furnace or water heater, that translates into a cost of just under $13 per million BTUs.

Compare that with the cost of electricity, which averaged 18.84 cents a kilowatt-hour in California in 2018, about 50% higher than the national average. That works out to $55 per million BTUs, more than four times the cost of natural gas. Even heat pumps for space and water heating can’t bridge that gap.

Environmentalists also tend to ignore things like comfort, reliability and usability. A ban on new natural-gas hookups in Berkeley, Calif, for example, means restaurants [can't] install gas ranges

[yesthatjallen]

I should add, include kickbacks.

[Sacajaweau]

And they think electricity comes from where??New homes will be furnished with a key and a kite?

[Trailerpark Badass]

How bout we phase out retards with “good ideas.”

[Repeal The 17th]

Why, if I add the first three together, am I already over 100%?
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I know that is what it says at your link, but I don’t know why...

[familyop]

Municipal lobbies have too much influence. Decrease that influence, if you want your descendants to have a chance to prosper and be free.

[ctdonath2]

If gas is banned, I’ll indeed switch to cooking on wood heat - producing far more pollution than gas. It’s natural, renewable, independent, and low tech. I grew up on wood heat, happy to go back but for the clean convenience of gas. Electric is great for most things but not on demand heat.

[HotKat]

Hubby and I bought a 1968 all electric “fixer upper.” Our little town in Alabama is offering serious incentives to have gas installed. We would have done it without the incentives. Loving our gas furans, gas water heater, gas logs, and gas dryer. We’re just so cozy and comfortable.
We opted out of the gas range and got an induction cooktop. It’s so easy to clean. It cooks great too.

[HotKat]

Hubby and I bought a 1968 all electric “fixer upper.” Our little town in Alabama is offering serious incentives to have gas installed. We would have done it without the incentives. Loving our gas furans, gas water heater, gas logs, and gas dryer. We’re just so cozy and comfortable.
We opted out of the gas range and got an induction cooktop. It’s so easy to clean. It cooks great too.

[digger48]

Electric heat is the coldest heat on the market

I know that sounds dumb, but it’s twue

[The Chid]

I remember when my wife and I got our first electric stove. I felt like a Greek God.

I was served 3 burnt offerings a day.

[MNJohnnie]

Fossil Fuels at 63.7 is the total for Gas, Oil and Coal combined

The next three lines are the break down of the total by how much each type of fossil fuel contributes.

Am I making sense?

[READINABLUESTATE]

"Natural gas is a great American energy resource, only a dunderhead would suggest reducing its use." I think alot of electricity is produced with natural gas....however I prefer the thought of a nuclear powered stove. ☺

[MNJohnnie]

LOL

[MNJohnnie]

I an idiot. I wish I knew how to do charts in HTML

Fossil fuels are gas and coal. 63.7% is just gas and coal combined

This chart break petroleum out into it own group despite it being a fossil fuel

[Repeal The 17th]

Got it!
Pardon my confusion.

[Grampa Dave]

The author goes on to mention that gas appliances can be used when there is a power outage, an important consideration in California.

In our last PG&E outage lasted for 3 days. My wife and I used our natural gas burners, ovens and my outside grill that starts charcoal with propane.

So we had warm breakfasts and hot dinners. Friends without natural gas, ate cold meals in the dark or sunlight from their decks. We had hot fresh pressed coffee or hot tea when we wanted it.

Electrical power outages get very old after the first day. Natural gas help a lot re fixing meals, hot coffee or tea.

People, who went all electric with their solar/wind electricity had about a week of primitive existence, and most are wondering if they made huge and expensive mistakes by going all solar/wind. Many without power went 4-6+ days.

[Deaf Smith]

Strange...

I am billed by the hundreds of cubic feet (CCF) I use,

Not by British Thermal Units.

[BatGuano]

The only result from these stupid “bans” is that natural gas will be saved for future use when the cost of electricity is 100 times the cost of gas. Another fact is that our beautiful planet produces natural gas. We will have the use of natural gas for a very long time.

[CatOwner]

Cooking with gas is much better.

I've always lived where we had electric stove tops (coil, ceramic) and ovens. When we moved to Texas a year ago, the rental had gas for both. It didn't take long to find I liked gas for the stove top more than electric.

OTOH, for some reason I didn't like the gas oven. So, I was pleased to find the house we had built and moved into over the summer had a gas stove top and an electric oven.

I've heard nothing but horror stories (and high operating costs) for electric water heaters. And I don't know how you heat a building effectively without natural gas.

[roadcat]

Cooking with gas is much better. So no.

Cooks in Berkeley were the most vocal against switching from gas to electric. They say electric cooking is inferior to gas when cooking in restaurants.

I used to peer into the kitchen at some restaurants in SF where I knew the owners and cooks. Huge flames and giant pans could cook a meal in seconds - literally. Not so with electric, takes too much time to heat up and too much time to heat the pans and the food within. Restaurant cooks can't waste time when feeding a hungry clientele.