SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Hookups for gas appliances like stoves, furnaces and water heaters could be banned from homes and buildings going up in Encinitas.
On Wednesday, the City Council will consider an ordinance that would require nearly all new construction in the city to be all electric. In other words, developers would not be allowed to include natural gas hookups, meaning appliances such as stoves, furnaces and water heaters would have to be electric. It would be the city's latest move in its effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
"Every little bit counts and that's what's important here," said Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. "We are trying to move off of our dependence on oil in all ways."
If passed, the city would become the county's first to ban natural gas hookups in new construction. State law, however, already requires solar panels to be built on new homes.
Exemptions would exist for some buildings. For instance, a restaurant could ask for a natural gas hookup if its business model relied on fire-grilled food.
Blakespear said the ordinance would not increase construction costs, and noted that pricing is similar for electric and gas appliances.
