Gov. Inslee should have vetoed natural gas bill

The people of Washington fared well during the 2024 legislative session. Three of their initiatives to the Legislature were approved, leaving three more to be decided in November.

The update of the state government’s operating budget required no new taxes. Speaking of taxes, Republicans also killed a bill by the Democrats that would have allowed local governments to triple the annual allowable growth rate of property taxes without first obtaining voter approval.

It wasn’t all good, though. The worst bill by far to pass this year paves the way to a ban on natural gas in our state. It is a product of the cap-and-trade law approved by majority Democrats that took full effect a year ago — a policy more accurately called “cap-and-tax.”

House Bill 1589 doesn’t ban natural gas outright. It’s sneakier than that. Originally drafted by attorneys for Puget Sound Energy, a foreign-owned monopoly that claims to supply natural gas to around 900,000 customers here in Washington, its intent is to exclusively enable PSE to avoid certain regulations and submit plans to discontinue providing natural gas service.

Ironically, PSE’s attorneys made critical errors in drafting the bill, forcing majority Democrats to fix it after the lieutenant governor — in his role as president of the Senate — called it a “hot mess” during the initial Senate floor debate.

The bill still contains an error that makes it unconstitutional. Even so, the majority forced it through after significant late-night arm-twisting in the House of Representatives.

Whatever plans PSE creates will be submitted for approval by the state Utilities and Transportation Commission. Considering the UTC’s three members are appointed by the governor — the same governor who openly favors banning what he insists on calling “dirty gas” — we can guess what the commission will decide.

Worse yet, the bill is a full frontal attack on PSE’s middle-income natural gas customers.

The bill burdens them with the expense of converting to electricity, estimated to cost up to $70,000 per home over time. On top of that, PSE is predicting residential electricity rates would increase 37% under this bill, while rates for residential natural gas — while it’s still available — would increase by 151%.

Although the bill offers some financial assistance to lower-income homeowners, the money can’t go toward replacing gas appliances or making related modifications, such as replacing countertops.

There’s nothing for middle-income families, or for renters to handle the conversion expenses passed through to them.

It’s disappointing that PSE pursued this self-centered approach. While its customers get stuck for tens of thousands of dollars in conversion costs, PSE gets to watch hundreds of thousands of homes move to the electricity side of its monopoly, from the natural gas side.

The real culprits here, however, are Gov. Jay Inslee and the majority Democrats who have joined his climate crusade. First, their cap-and-trade policy drove gasoline prices up across our state, then it caused natural gas bills to climb; now it’s creating a path to the shutoff of natural gas service, area by area.

The bottom line is simple: No cap-and-trade, no HB 1589. You wonder what other financial harm is in store for Washington families and employers as long as the Climate Commitment Act is in place.

The determination of Democratic legislative leaders to pass the PSE bill this year also sheds more light on why they would not let the Senate and House of Representatives vote on Initiative 2117, to repeal the cap-and-trade law.

Similarly, the sponsors included the so-called “emergency clause” in the PSE bill. They know this prevents Washington voters from rejecting HB 1589, using their constitutional power of referendum.

Then there’s our electrical grid. Can it bear the burden of hundreds of thousands of customers switching entirely to electric power? 

The answer is no.

The governor should have vetoed the PSE bill. Unfortunately, it will likely have to be fought another way, at another time. The people of Washington deserve better.