By Tony Hicks – The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider creating an ordinance requiring electricity become the sole power source for all new residential and hotels, offices, and retail buildings in the county.
The ordinance would prohibit the installation of natural gas piping in those buildings.
The board explored the new rules back in August, voting 4-1 to ask staff to work on the new rules.
District 2 supervisor Candace Andersen dissented, saying she wanted to hear more input from local officials before moving forward.
Board members said new state rules mandate solar for most new development and mentioned how wildfires and a lack of water to power hydroelectric facilities during droughts could affect new laws.
A county ordinance would affect unincorporated areas where the California Energy Commission has accepted studies demonstrating the cost effectiveness of the new requirements.
The 2019 California Energy Code allows local jurisdictions to establish stricter building codes if that local authority finds it necessary because of local climate, geological, topographical, or environmental conditions.
In September 2020, Contra Costa adopted a climate emergency resolution, saying the county should require electricity over gas in new construction. A county staff report in August said “The built environment is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the county and in California.”
The ordinance wouldn’t apply to future developments already approved before the new law is enacted. The ordinance also wouldn’t prohibit emergency backup power sources, like generators, that run on fossil fuel sources.
The new law would have to be approved by the California Energy Commission before being enacted. Staff is recommending the county approve the proposal with an operating date of July 1, 2022.
31 comments
Another government brain dead idea.
Great, so how would I cook or heat my house when the power is out. My gas works just fine for that. Guess I’ll just have to use my loud obnoxious unhealthy gasoline generator!
Our electric grid can’t handle what we have already Lmaoo.
Instead of a covid-zero policy y’all should focus on a blackout-zero policy. No more additional strain to the electric grid until you can go a full year without one single blackout.
These people aren’t stupid. They know the electric grid can’t handle it but they’re like a ball rolling down a hill – they can’t stop going until they hit a goddamn cliff. Unfortunately for everyone they’re going drag 1.4 million people in this county with them because “muh political aspirations”.
On the bright side there’s going to be decades worth of entertaining documentary material.
They can charge more for the power if its all electric only and say its to prevent the blackouts to make people conserve energy for the greater good so that only the rich will be able to afford it and they can put more restrictions on us what we can and cant do….
You are correct, they are not stupid. They have a bigger plan to get everyone on solar.
This makes no sense. We have problems producing enough electricity as it is. This mandate along with the charging your EV will increase the electric usage of each new house by 50%. You know those hot summer days when everyone runs their AC and we have rolling blackouts? What happens on the cold winter days when everyone turns their electric heater on?
If you voted for any of these morons. Please go to the bathroom. Stare into the mirror and slap yourself. You deserve it.
This is stupid. Let’s add even more to a over taxed electrical system. How about just cutting back how much over building they are doing here in this state. It doesn’t have the resources to handle all of it. And this dream of doing it all by renewable energy is a joke when you keep adding more and more load to something that has never been able to come close to doing what they say they want.
I couldn’t agree more!
Ridiculous that we are asked to conserve water, run electrical appliances before 1600 and after 2100 each day to not tax the grid, and they still keep building.
The state us run by morons
+1 +1
And yet another reason to get the heck out of California…
These people have lost their freaking minds. Whenever I think I have seen the STUPIDEST thing ever, they take it as a challenge and top themselves yet again.
How about asking the VOTERS.
Not everyone wants, nor can they afford $1,000 month electric bill.
Banning gas is idiotic at best. With an all-electric house, everything goes when the power goes off. At least with a gas range, you can light it with a match and cook. This is going to be bad for gas fireplace logs, which the greenies encourage people to get, and for swimming pool heaters.
This will stress an already overstressed power grid even more.
I had an all electric house in Texas and I was the only one who’s winter bill went up. It’s very expensive to heat with electricity.
And the idiots keep following blind guide’s, our current infrastructure ( PG&E ), can’t supply us with enough electricity NOW, turning off power during hot summer days due to system overload, and they want MORE electric cars on the road, now they want houses and businesses to be ALL electric, adding more demand….. so we will ALL have to buy and run our own greenhouse gas and air/noise polluting generators to run our home’s during their “rolling power outage’s “, natural gas for heating hot water, cooking, is cleaner than what we will resort to during these times. What’s next ?? Banning propane for your outdoor barbeques and fire pits, oh the joy of sitting around an electric fake fire and cooking over an electric heating element……
You know they banned gas generators too, right?
I would like to see the Supervisor’s report measuring how whatever greenhouse gases would be saved with this in California compares to the massive coal fired power plant building going on in China and through their Belt and Road initiative making third world countries dependent upon Chinese coal plants. How can the Supervisors not provide this information if global warming is their reasoning?
They have not provided an independent study – they just take the democrat-funded study and put their names on it…. Then use that to justify their actions.
The grid can’t service current summer needs in this state. Putting even more usage on it now is a less than brilliant idea.
They want more construction everywhere while the CPUC looks at cancelling payments to home owners who put renewable energy into the grid to help the utility companies meet their deadline for % of energy coming from renewable sources.
Electric clothes dryers take more time and energy to dry smaller loads.
Electric ranges take longer to boil a pot of water.
Electric heaters use more juice to keep you warm.
So if you don’t have a battery back up (what’s the current wait time?) and the power goes out, guess you’re going to have to fire up the gas generator to keep your house going and your charcoal BBQ to cook on. All in the guise of being green! Ha!
It’s stuff like this that makes me happy I have replaced the old gas stove with a new gas one and my old gas dryer with a new gas one within the past few years. Oh yes, also my hot water heater. All 3 were harder to find because of the push for all electric everything. Cost more also but in my mind it was worth the extra as well.
Most people aren’t very bright. For example, by the time you pay for those ugly solar panels on your roof, pay the monthly “hook up fees” to PG&E, and then the average of $100 extra dollars a month to the solar company, you will always loose money in the end. Yeah, you may feel good because you think you are helping the environment, but in the end you are just providing more power to PG&E with your excess juice on those hot sunny days. And on those cloudy days…
Disagree with the idea all electric. It doesn’t even work now and it’s going to sneak-up quickly and shut everything down when we need it the most.
No Thank You.
Not interested in “New Construction” homes in this area anyway for many reasons: Higher Property Taxes, HOA’s and all Electric to be?
Love my gas stove and they can’t take that away, since the gas-line is here to stay 🙂
BS! Gas is cheaper so of course they dont want to install it!
Sooooo killing off new restaurants in the country is the new idea?
Braindead politicians. Ive NEVER seen a professional kitchen run on anything other than gas. UGH, Idiots.
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Not only does natural gas burn clean with little to no carbons, consider the fact you’re in California!
PG&E can’t keep the power on in any weather!
During a power outage, you can’t cook! Gas stoves still work in a power outage.
Is this STUPID idea proffered by PG&E?
Electricity costs MORE than gas!
Truly, we are governed by morons.
Natural gas is extremely clean burning!
Gavin Newsom has already dictated that in the future all heating, stoves, water heaters will have to be electric. That’s going to be a very expensive changeover for homeowners. Plus as we all know you can’t really trust our electrical grid to provide enough power.
I’m very disappointed in the Board of supervisors as this is another one of the agenda items of the woke left. I honestly think they want to cripple our system.
And you know what?
Right now up to 29% of our pollution is from China. As they ramp up their industrial complex it could be up to 50% of our pollution.. SO….. Even if we give up every gas item, gas cars, lawn mowers BBQs and fireplaces in the winter, we’re still going to have pollution it isn’t ours.
Wake up you Democrat voters! Your elected officials are trying to do great harm to the country!
Another GREAT liberal idea. We need to clean house in this county. Vote them all out.
I told you so.
Natural gas is so clean and cheap, they will use it to make electricity. Having an alternate source of energy is essential to survival for some people.
This is an attack on us by the state. It’s time to get control of this out of control government. How stupid will you let it get?
How many members of the Board of Supervisors have water heaters and/or home heating which use natural gas?
How many of them have a personal car (not paid for by the taxpayer) which is all-electric?
How many have placed solar panels on their private residence?
thats okay, cardboard box by the county canal is perfectly fine with a old propane tank to heat your bon fire. That is totally legal. You can also count on the fact the government is hands off of you right now. You can camp where you like, with what ever heat source you dream up and you have no mandates. Total freedom….wasn’t there a song about that? “King of the Road”
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