Outlawing Natural Gas

Like all good Commies, in the dead of the night (2am) on the last day in the 2024 legislative session, Washington’s Marxists (AKA Democrats) suspended rules and passed a bill that will force even more Washingtonians into poverty. Low-income families will slowly be pushed into homelessness as HB 1589 is implemented. It effectively bans natural gas, forces families to pay tens of thousands of dollars to transition their homes to all-electric, and could lead to energy bill increases upwards of $206 each month.

This bill is another step toward the goal of forcing homeowners and business owners to use only electricity for they energy needs by 2045, regardless who is hurt. It is just one more step in a long range plan by Democrats to make all forms of energy more expensive in order to force people out of their homes and into public housing where government can control them. This plan also includes forcing Washingtonians out of their cars and onto public transportation controlled by government by outlawing gas-powered cars by 2035. Indeed, Seattle has already signed onto the Globalists’ 15-Minute Cities plan.

The bill allows the state’s largest utility company, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), to shut off natural gas service for its 800,000 customers in the Greater Seattle Area, forcing them to convert their homes to all-electric.

“Make no mistake. This bill will ultimately ban natural gas for all current and future Puget Sound Energy customers,” said Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) Executive Vice President Greg Lane.

ARE THEY INSANE OR EVIL?

At the same time Washingtonians’ Overlords are forcing homeowners to use only electricity and forcing drivers to buy & drive Electric Vehicles, they are reducing production of electricity. Yes, you read that right! A decade ago the state removed two dams on the Elwha River in northwestern Washington. The state recently signed an agreement with the Biden Regime to remove four dams on the Lower Snake River in southeastern Washington. And the Marxists now have their evil eyes on removing some or all of the eleven dams on the Mighty Columbia River.^

Sixty-seven percent of electricity in Washington State comes from hydroelectric dams, the highest percentage of all 50 states but, the Democrats who own this state have no realistic plans to replace the lost electricity production. They expect Americans to use less electricity, including farmers, much like the 1930s & 40s. They are not insane. They are evil.

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

HB 1589 leaves families and homeowners out in the cold, so to speak, because it doesn’t include any financial support to help them transition their homes from natural gas to electricity, which can cost between $30,000 and $74,000! BIAW estimates the average cost is $40,000.

The bill also allows PSE to raise rates and sets the stage for the state’s largest gas-and-electric utility to phase out natural gas service, which will lead to other utilities following suit. Among other things, the bill allows Puget Sound Energy (PSE) to choose when it’s no longer financially beneficial to provide natural gas service to new and existing customers and thus be allowed to turn off natural gas service. They can stop maintaining current service and stop offering new service.

In a report from the Washington State Department of Commerce, nearly two-thirds of families said they struggle to pay energy bills in 2022, even before rising inflation rates made things exponentially worse. Lawmakers already know Washingtonians are strapped for cash. They don’t care! Because of the Governor’s cap and trade program, residents saw a $.50/gal spike in gas prices, making them amongst the highest in the nation. In response, more than 400,000 Washingtonians signed an initiative to repeal it.

Lawmakers are required to prioritize initiatives above everything except the state budget. They could’ve immediately passed the repeal into law, like they did three other initiatives. Instead, they completely ignored it, refusing to give it a single hearing. But they did find time to double-down and ram through legislation like HB 1589.

To Democrat politicians, going electric is more important than trivial matters like families struggling to put food on the table, heat their homes, or be able to afford gas to get to work. Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, is expected to sign it.

This bill comes at a time when low-income Americans are suffering under Bidenomics. More & more Washingtonians are eating out of food banks as the following article explains.

Intentionally raising energy costs? Evil. There is no other word for it. Evil.

^I grew up right across the road from the Mighty Columbia River as it flowed south from Canada, through the beautiful Wenatchee Valley, growing ever wider and more powerful as it made its way to the Pacific Ocean, where I now live. It was during the 1950s and 1960s that many of the dams were built and I watched some of them being slowly erected. My father worked for the Douglas County PUD who built & owns Wells Dam. My uncle worked for the Chelan County PUD who built & owns Rocky Reach Dam.