The natural gas pushback

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Gunnison, Colorado, at 7,700 feet above sea level, sees some of the coldest temperatures in the Lower 48. Its 6,000 or so inhabitants, especially low-income residents in older, poorly insulated housing, use more energy — often from natural gas — than their lowland counterparts.

Last year, Gunnison’s city government proposed cutting both greenhouse gas emissions and utility bills by making new homes more efficient and less reliant on fossil fuels.

But Gunnison soon encountered the same obstacle that other communities do when they try to move toward electric heat pumps, stoves and water heaters: natural gas providers.

By vigorously campaigning against electrification policies in what are normally local battles, national natural gas utilities have opened a new front in the decarbonization struggle: building codes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-natural-gas-pushback/ar-AA19nwOX

[NullTuples]

1. Here in California, our Gov & Legislature are trying to mandate a shift to electricity, but...

We mandated that all new homes must have rooftop solar.

So the Public Utilities Commission ruled the buyback rate for power that is so low, the panels won't pay for themselves before they wear out.

We declared that new construction must phase out gas. People started converting their existing homes, too.

PG&E has to protect their shareholder returns, so they're not spending on increasing their ability to approve & install upgraded service panels, etc..

Oh, and did I mention that electricity rates in most areas of California - as set by the aforementioned PUC - is $0.35 - $0.40 per Kilowatt/hour? PG&E customers pay about 80% more per kilowatt-hour than the national average, according to UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School & the nonprofit think tank Next 10.

And no matter what judges rule against PG&E for siphoning revenue off for investors, the cost simply gets passed on to customers.

It's like we're making it easy for gas producers to push back & we're supposed to be one of the so-called climate leader states.

[orthoclad]

2. Oiligarchs play dirty

We have to expect this.

The fossil rich want to wring every penny out while they still can, disasters be damned.