2/22/2023: Natural Gas Ban, Seriously?
No more gas appliances from 2030 in California
My house experienced a prolonged power outage from yesterday afternoon until noon today. I actually wrote yesterday’s post with natural lighting while the power was out. I thought we could get the power back in a couple of hours. But it ended up lasting for 22 hours. I had to throw away most of the stuff in the refrigerator including some Din Tai Fung leftovers. It was frustrating to have no power and no wifi. I had to shower in the dark. I was thankful I had a natural gas water heater though. This morning was freezing. Our HVAC was not functioning due to the power outage. Thankfully I had a gas stove so I could boil some water and made myself some hot tea to warm up. The power outage would have been unbearable had I not had access to natural gas.
Unfortunately, California is set to phase out gas appliances from 2030. I don’t know what these politicians are thinking. PG&E has been extremely unreliable in the past few years and is getting worse. My upper middle class neighborhood in Cupertino, CA is having power outages almost every month in summer and winter. If power outages become the norm, banning natural gas will be disastrous. I understand people’s intention to want to be environmentally friendly but if the infrastructure couldn’t support the natural gas ban, it’s asking Californians to suffer for no reasons. Sure, rich people can spend that $100K on the solar panels and power walls to deal with PG&E’s incompetence. But how about the renters and homeowners who do not have the means to upgrade their homes? People should just suffer in the dark during power outage with no hot water, no hot stove and no heater like how people lived in the 1800s, all in the name of ESG?
I recently replaced an old gas stove with an induction range. It’s great! For me, the upsides are definitely higher than the downsides of an occasional power outage. I have a propane grill to fall back on if the need ever arises.