Climate justice in WA is not served by rejecting natural gas

Advocates for stronger actions to address climate change frequently invoke climate justice claims, noting that climate change’s impacts fall disproportionately on poorer, marginalized communities in America and elsewhere.

Unfortunately, some of the remedies promoted by those same advocates — such as eliminating natural gas hookups in new housing — threaten to create injustices of their own by making new housing more expensive and less accessible.

Natural gas is much less carbon intensive than coal and oil and, crucially, usually is a less expensive way to heat homes and power hot-water heaters. For decades, Washington’s utilities encouraged switching to gas from all-electric homes because it saved their ratepayers money while also reducing demand for expensive new electricity generation. Today, however, homeowners are not informed when gas may lower their energy bills or make their homes more comfortable. With winter around the corner, it’s important for Washington homeowners to be aware of how their energy bills might be impacted by a set of policies that promote electric use, but not always equitably or wisely.

Having worked for over 30 years in conservation — in particular, by helping lower-income households achieve greater efficiency, comfort, and utility savings — we’re concerned that well-meaning efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by curtailing natural gas use will harm these very households.

Rather than restrict access to natural gas, we know from long experience that conservation and energy efficiency are the best options for protecting our environment and lower-income ratepayers and households. Wind and solar are important new energy resources but, like all new sources, they have their own impact on our environment including the gas peaking units needed to back them up and the additional transmission facilities needed to deliver the electricity they produce. Dependence on all forms of new generation resources can be reduced by promoting conservation regionally and in our state.

Something else we’ve learned is this: Homeowners and renters should all be given objective information that increases transparency in their choice of utilities. When it’s less expensive to use natural gas for space and water heating, they should be told that. On the other hand, if an electric heat pump is the better option for them, they should be informed.

Unfortunately, many Washington homeowners are not aware of the cost implications of turning away from gas for space and water heating, whether in new construction or existing homes. For example, the typical annual energy bill for an all-electric home, with no gas, averaged $1,700 a year, while a comparable home with gas space and water heating would spend $1,250 per year on average — 26% less.

When it comes to climate change, the current focus on denying natural gas in new construction — and not informing ratepayers when gas may substantially reduce their energy bills — may not be an equitable remedy for lower income or even middle-class families.

Addressing climate change is a critical challenge for our state and country. Successfully addressing it while achieving real climate justice means not creating new financial and housing hardships for those least able to afford them.