{"id":2209588,"date":"2024-03-30T10:15:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T14:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/repealing-the-cca-wont-eliminate-new-natural-gas-phaseout-law-biaw\/"},"modified":"2024-03-30T10:15:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T14:15:29","slug":"repealing-the-cca-wont-eliminate-new-natural-gas-phaseout-law-biaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/repealing-the-cca-wont-eliminate-new-natural-gas-phaseout-law-biaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Revoking the CCA does not nullify the new natural gas phaseout law, clarifies BIAW"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frepealing-the-cca-wont-eliminate-new-natural-gas-phaseout-law-biaw%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2209588&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>After Governor Jay\u2064 Inslee signed Engrossed Substitute House\u2062 Bill 1589, known as the &#8220;natural gas\u200c ban bill,&#8221; \u2064reactions\u200c poured in from\u200b parties like\u200b the Building Industry Association \u2064of Washington. The law aims to accelerate Puget\u2064 Sound Energy&#8217;s shift\u200d from natural gas to \u2064renewable energy.\u2064 While supporters emphasize \u200cclimate goals and \u2062rate control, opponents fear increased utility bills and \u200csubstantial\u200c costs for homeowners.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 A day after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law one of the most controversial bills of the legislative session, reactions are coming in from opponents, including the Building Industry Association of Washington. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary?BillNumber=1589&#038;Year=2023&#038;Initiative=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1589<\/strong><\/a>, dubbed the \u201cnatural gas ban bill\u201d by detractors, is meant to hasten Puget Sound Energy\u2019s transition away from natural gas to renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters argue the new law should have no immediate impact on rates \u2013 the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission would have to approve any rate hikes \u2013 and is necessary to meet climate commitment goals as the utility moves toward decarbonization.<\/p>\n<p>But opponents say customers will see utility bills increase, and transitioning away from natural gas-powered water heaters, stove tops, and fireplaces could cost homeowners tens of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Himebaugh, BIAW\u2019s managing director of external affairs, spoke with The Center Square Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s so disappointing that the powers-that-be don\u2019t have considerations for the added costs on consumers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a real shame, and it\u2019s certainly talking out of both sides of their mouth when they talk about housing affordability, and this drives up the cost of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Converting a household to electricity will cost $40,000 to $50,000, BIAW <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Cost-to-Convert-Infographic-3.pdf\">estimates<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen PSE and UTC decide they are no longer going to provide service to those current customers, you\u2019re going to force folks to have to upgrade or change their systems in their homes, it\u2019s just adding to costs on top of costs,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<p>In a previous interview with The Center Square, Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane, downplayed the possibility of cost increases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea that rates will go up in the short term is simply scaremongering by anybody that says that,\u201d he said. \u201cRates have to be approved by the UTC, which is a bipartisan group of regulators who receive applications from the utilities, and then they evaluate that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The commission, he explained, does not merely\u00a0acquiesce to PSE.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe UTC reviews rate cases made by the utilities, and then there\u2019s a representative for the public that then advocates for the public interest and the UTC listens to those arguments and then makes their decisions,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have a long history of denying requests from the utilities if the requests are too high, and that happens regularly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Himebaugh says it\u2019s clear ESHB 1589 is a push to convert natural gas customers to electricity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt says you have to make a way to stop selling natural gas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Himebaugh quashed the notion that ESHB 1589 would be moot if voters in November approved Initiative 2117 to repeal the Climate Commitment Act and get rid of the state\u2019s carbon market.<\/p>\n<p>One of the stated goals in ESHB 1589 is meeting deadlines for carbon reduction set in the CCA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt references some of the Climate Commitment Act but only in sort of funding it but this has nothing to do with the CCA,\u201d Himebaugh said. \u201cThis measure continues on regardless of whether that initiative passes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Himebaugh explained that ESHB 1589 is more in line with the 2019 <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commerce.wa.gov\/growing-the-economy\/energy\/ceta\/\">Clean Energy Transformation Act<\/a><\/strong> that requires the state\u2019s electric utilities to full transition to clean, renewable and non-emitting resources by 2045.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut even suggesting the bill is necessary to be in compliance is not true,\u201d she said. \u201cOther utilities don\u2019t need this measure to be compliant with CCA or CETA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Himebaugh railed against ESHB 1589.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a money grab, a giveaway to a foreign-owned energy monopoly; a government-protected foreign-owned energy monopoly so that they can make more for their CCA and CETA obligations on the backs of fixed-income seniors, low-income residents, the middle-class, restaurants, and other businesses,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>BIAW will be thoughtful, Himebaugh said, and take it slow in terms of figuring out how to respond to the signing of the bill into law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are all kinds of litigation issues with the measure as passed,\u201d she said. \u201cBut everything is on the table, whether that\u2019s an initiative or an election of a different governor, or a repeal in the Legislature; everything is an option.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently signed a controversial bill dubbed the \u201cnatural gas ban bill,\u201d eliciting reactions from opponents like the Building Industry Association of Washington. The legislation, known as Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1589, is designed to accelerate the phaseout of natural gas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2209589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24030755004975-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2209588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24030755004975-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2209589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}