The Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County (RPSLO) opposes the city of San Luis Obispo’s adoption of proposed amendments that would lead to the elimination of the use of natural gas.
New building projects choosing to incorporate natural gas will be required to meet a higher performance standard, and will be required to pre-wire for future all-electric. Although natural gas will be allowed for current and new projects throughout the city, the projects with natural gas will be required to pay a carbon-offset fee in proportion to how much gas will be used.
These amendments are not required by state law, and have not been evaluated in terms of their cost impact on already-impacted new housing or remodeled construction, nor have the energy consumption impacts of the proposals been evaluated.
This mandatory conversion to all-electric will impose a disproportionate financial impact upon the working poor, the elderly, and those on fixed incomes. All-electric homes are more expensive to operate and increase the cost of housing!
The proposals are another attempt by the City Council to promote its extreme environmental credentials at the expense of residents and taxpayers. RPSLO urges the City Council to take no action on them.
Randall Jordan
Chair
RPSLO
This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 8, 2019.
Who pays for all of this additional “Administrivia” associated with the development and maintenance of these types of programs? Your tax dollars at work? Has anyone ever mentioned the # of FTE (Full-time equivalent) employees required to manage it? Also, isn’t someone probably burning something somewhere in order to make the electricity? I guess I don’t know enough about it to say “It’s a bad idea”, but with all of the issues we already have with housing, aren’t we just exacerbating them with these types of programs? I have to wonder!
“This mandatory conversion to all-electric will impose a disproportionate financial impact”
NO WHERE does this proposal say there is a mandated conversion of existing buildings–the new rules apply to NEW BUILDINGS. The RPSLO must be getting its talking points from the fossil energy lobby which is not interested in the truth, only protecting its obscene corporate profits for the oiligarchs and 1%. All electric is cheaper than natural gas to build and transport; way safer; and with renewable generation, carbon free.
Why use the misleading title phrasing “eliminate natural gas in new buildings” when you admit in the second paragraph that the program allows for natural gas to continue? Sounds like a scare tactic. Similarly with the claim that electric homes are more expensive to operate. This is completely false, especially given the facts that (i) the state is requiring new homes to be built with solar … which makes them essentially free to operate, and (ii) SoCal Gas has stated its intent to raise prices 30%-45% over the next three years. If you were in favor of protecting locals’ wallets instead of fossil fuels’ profits, you would not be singing the praises of a dirty, unhealthy, costly, and outdated technology.
These people are giving Progressives a bad, kooky, whacky name. I thought affordable housing was a thing?
The additional cost will be noted as FEES and other strong disincentives to avoid going with Natural Gas. If electricity were cheaper vs using natural gas then why are so many homes using gas vs electric, another false assumption. Once you reach your tier allotment your costs for electric automatically raise per unit which the city claims will raise to about $15 extra, only in your wildest dreams. When you start paying $500 monthly for all electric home w/4 people watch out.