California cities suspend natural gas bans following court ruling

After a federal court struck down the city of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas appliances in new construction, other cities in the San Francisco Bay Area are suspending existing or planned natural gas bans. “A panel of judges ruled that Berkeley cannot ban natural gas because of a federal energy law that already exists.”

As Stephanie Lam explains in the East Bay Times, jurisdictions that have temporarily lifted their bans include Sunnyvale, Cupertino and San Mateo counties, as well as San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast.

Although the ruling doesn’t technically affect cities like Sunnyvale that took a “building code-based approach,” some of those cities are voluntarily suspending their bans to avoid litigation. “Sunnyvale city spokeswoman Jennifer Garnett said the city has taken other measures in addition to the suspended gas ban to encourage electric infrastructure. That includes allowing residential and commercial projects with all-electric designs to increase their floor area ratios.”

Natural gas has been shown to have significant negative impacts on indoor air quality, and environmentalists say all-electric buildings are critical for the state to meet its net-zero carbon goal.