Nov 6, 2021 05:03 AM
(This post was last modified: Nov 6, 2021 05:08 AM by C C.)
Consumer Affairs: "Natural gas is almost always cheaper than electricity. Choosing all gas appliances [or keeping them] can save you up to 30 percent on your utility bill."
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Oklahoma proposes letting gas utility charge a $1,400 ‘exit fee’ to go electric
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oklahoma-...666bdcc491
EXCERPT: . . . The proposal is part of a larger bid by Oklahoma Natural Gas to sell off debt it incurred when fuel prices skyrocketed during a historic cold snap last February. It is currently being negotiated before a judge at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. The provision, which would apply only to customers who terminate service specifically to go electric, could be approved as early as December and come into force no later than June.
The fee could more than double the cost of swapping a gas stove for a new electric appliance, forcing homeowners offloading their last gas appliance to not only purchase the new one but also to bid the utility farewell by paying out the remainder of their share of the company’s debt. The fee is also a flat rate for virtually all customers, so the cost does not reflect the amount of gas the household used during last winter’s deep freeze.
If greenlighted, the measure would likely become a model for gas-friendly regulators across the country, advocates say, providing a new tool to prevent consumer transitions from fossil fuels to zero-carbon alternatives. Texas and Kansas are already considering their own proposals, according to one source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the plans.
The Sooner State had already helped pioneer a similar policy when it approved one of the nation’s first “preemption laws” barring its cities and towns from banning new gas hookups in buildings. Oklahoma enacted the legislation last year, shortly after Berkeley, California, became the first U.S. city to require all new construction to go electric.
Since then, more than 20 states, most of them Republican-controlled, have passed similar laws banning bans on natural gas, while cities including San Francisco, Seattle and Brookline, Massachusetts, have barred new or renovated buildings from installing gas appliances. The effort comes as cities and states rush to cut climate-changing pollution, roughly 13% of which in the U.S. comes from buildings.
Electrification poses an existential threat to gas utilities, which have responded with aggressive lobbying for preemption laws and with misleading advertising campaigns featuring Instagram influencers... (MORE - details)
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Psst... OTOH, don't bust that virtue bubble by telling them that 40% of the electricity in the U.S. comes from natural gas. Another 19% from coal. 1% from petroleum. Almost 20% from nuclear (which Greens hate, want to eliminate). Ironically, processing of the raw materials and the manufacturing necessary for renewables technology also often consumes power from non-renewable sources.
Maybe a century from now fusion will finally give household power a pseudo-magical origin. But today it's usually pretentious make-believe in most locations that one is avoiding carbon emission by going electric.
- - - - - -
Oklahoma proposes letting gas utility charge a $1,400 ‘exit fee’ to go electric
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/oklahoma-...666bdcc491
EXCERPT: . . . The proposal is part of a larger bid by Oklahoma Natural Gas to sell off debt it incurred when fuel prices skyrocketed during a historic cold snap last February. It is currently being negotiated before a judge at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. The provision, which would apply only to customers who terminate service specifically to go electric, could be approved as early as December and come into force no later than June.
The fee could more than double the cost of swapping a gas stove for a new electric appliance, forcing homeowners offloading their last gas appliance to not only purchase the new one but also to bid the utility farewell by paying out the remainder of their share of the company’s debt. The fee is also a flat rate for virtually all customers, so the cost does not reflect the amount of gas the household used during last winter’s deep freeze.
If greenlighted, the measure would likely become a model for gas-friendly regulators across the country, advocates say, providing a new tool to prevent consumer transitions from fossil fuels to zero-carbon alternatives. Texas and Kansas are already considering their own proposals, according to one source who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the plans.
The Sooner State had already helped pioneer a similar policy when it approved one of the nation’s first “preemption laws” barring its cities and towns from banning new gas hookups in buildings. Oklahoma enacted the legislation last year, shortly after Berkeley, California, became the first U.S. city to require all new construction to go electric.
Since then, more than 20 states, most of them Republican-controlled, have passed similar laws banning bans on natural gas, while cities including San Francisco, Seattle and Brookline, Massachusetts, have barred new or renovated buildings from installing gas appliances. The effort comes as cities and states rush to cut climate-changing pollution, roughly 13% of which in the U.S. comes from buildings.
Electrification poses an existential threat to gas utilities, which have responded with aggressive lobbying for preemption laws and with misleading advertising campaigns featuring Instagram influencers... (MORE - details)
- - - - - -
Psst... OTOH, don't bust that virtue bubble by telling them that 40% of the electricity in the U.S. comes from natural gas. Another 19% from coal. 1% from petroleum. Almost 20% from nuclear (which Greens hate, want to eliminate). Ironically, processing of the raw materials and the manufacturing necessary for renewables technology also often consumes power from non-renewable sources.
Maybe a century from now fusion will finally give household power a pseudo-magical origin. But today it's usually pretentious make-believe in most locations that one is avoiding carbon emission by going electric.
