House Republicans in Olympia united in opposition Monday to legislation that would ban natural gas in new residential and commercial buildings. John Sattgast reports from the state Capitol.
House Bill 1589 would immediately apply the ban to any gas company that serves more than 500-thousand customers – specifically Puget Sound Energy. But Republican Representative Mary Dye of Pomeroy believes it is a slippery slope toward an eventual statewide prohibition of natural gas.
“It intends to force a premature decommissioning of the existing infrastructure. And that will limit people’s choice.”
And while advocates point to wind and solar to help fully electrify the grid to supply energy demand, Dye says that plan is insecure and unstable.
“In the last 60-days in my region, those windmills have sat dead still. And we have been encapsulated in an inversion fog for those days. And less than one percent of the grid was served by renewable wind and solar.”
The measure passed 52 to 45, with some Democrats also voting no. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration.
# # #