The next big energy showdown is over all-electric neighborhoods
As more cities ban natural gas in new development, more states move to ban the bans.
The eyes of the energy world turned to Texas this week, as severe winter storms led to sweeping — and deadly — power outages across the state. Such a disaster might have inspired unity of purpose around improving energy infrastructure and reducing the carbon impact tied to extreme weather events. Instead, some state officials cast misleading blame on renewable energy sources and pushed for even greater reliance on fossil fuels.
Let’s hope Texas finds its way through this crisis very soon. But state-led attacks on green energy are likely here to stay — and not just in Texas. Across the U.S., the stage is being set for states to intervene with city climate actions, particularly those focused on transitioning the energy supply away from natural gas.
Consider a bill that the Texas state legislature itself introduced in December. The bill prohibits “a political subdivision” — aka, cities — from denying building permits “based on the type of utility service provided to the project.” In other words, the bill represents an effort by the state to prevent local governments from doing something that cities around the U.S. are increasingly doing: banning natural gas in new development.
In just the last couple years, dozens of U.S. cities have pushed for natural gas bans in new development, including several major municipalities like San Francisco, Denver, and Seattle. The immediate goal of this rule is to enable all-electric neighborhoods that rely on cleaner energy sources than exist today. The greater goal is to ensure that cities remain at the forefront of meaningful climate action.
But the counterpush has arrived and appears to be gaining steam. According to a recent report by the Local Solutions Support Center — an organization founded to protect local governments — at least four states have passed legislation banning natural gas bans, while a half dozen other states (including Texas) have made moves in that same direction. The list is growing fast: in early February, Georgia also introduced legislation that would make it much harder for cities like Atlanta to achieve their climate goals.
Indiana is another recent example. Earlier this month, the state legislature introduced a bill that would (largely) prohibit cities, towns, and even college campuses from pursuing all-electric developments. The bill’s lead author cites the need to keep utility costs low during the pandemic, which is a legitimate concern. But there are standard ways to avoid short-term harms through phased-in legislation, and the Indiana Environmental Reporter suggests another motivation: campaign donations from natural gas suppliers.
State preemption of city action is so increasingly common, across such a wide range of policy areas, that Alan Greenblatt of Governing fears local policy is becoming irrelevant. Banning local mask requirements was the most urgent (and disastrous) trend this past year. But state preemption is playing a big role in local matters related to police funding, school openings, minimum wages, and more.
For some context, if the same states prevent local natural gas bans that have blocked local minimum wage laws, then 27 of the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. — representing almost a quarter of the country’s population — would have no clear path toward all-electric new development.
Of course, preemption notwithstanding, cities already face plenty of significant challenges to an all-electric future. Affordability is indeed one of the biggest, given that electricity tends to be more expensive than natural gas, and that increased reliance on the power grid could require grid expansions by utility companies. That’s why it’s so important to create new approaches that help utilities reduce peak electricity use through battery storage, dynamic pricing, automation, and other green technologies.
It’s encouraging that so many cities are willing to tackle this challenge head on and are prepared to show the way forward for others. Preventing cities from following this lead will only ensure more hard storms to come.
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