October 3, 2024

Op-Ed: Promoting energy choice by protecting access to natural gas for homes and businesses

Madi Clark | Mountain States Policy Center
Sep 24, 2024

This November, Washington voters will decide if consumer energy choices deserve protection. Over the course of the last year, Washington state bureaucrats and elected officials have followed the climate posturing of high-cost energy states, by banning natural gas in future builds and pushing for grid electrification for existing natural gas users. Washington Initiative 2066 is the response to this government-created restriction on consumer energy choices, reversing the natural gas bans and prohibiting any and all future energy restrictions.

There are currently only seven states plus Washington, D.C. with jurisdictions restricting natural gas use in new construction. Washington state is one of these regions with restrictions on natural gas. On the other hand, over half of the states in the country have placed preemptive measures in place prohibiting any natural gas bans by local or state jurisdictions. Regional neighbors of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have all voted to prohibit these local bans on natural gas.

To learn more about the House Republican plans to address the affordability crisis and deliver more energy diversity and independence, visit the Washington House Republicans.