San Francisco Bay area to phase out
natural gas heating appliances
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[March 17, 2023]
(Reuters) - The San Francisco Bay area will phase out natural
gas-powered furnaces and water heaters beginning in 2027 to improve
local air quality and public health.
It is the latest move by local officials in the United States to
eliminate natural gas, a fossil fuel, from heating homes and buildings.
California has been at the forefront of the effort, and the California
Air Resources Board said last year it will require that all new space
and water heaters have zero emissions by 2030. |
![](../images/031723PIX/news_j73.jpg)
A person walks along a street in San
Francisco as the city struggles to return to its pre-pandemic downtown
occupancy rate, falling behind many other major cities around the
country, according to local officials, in California, U.S., February 13,
2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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Eliminating natural gas appliances would mean transitioning to
electric equipment such as heat pumps.
In a vote held late Wednesday, the board of directors of the Bay
Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted rules that
will require new water heaters and furnaces to have zero
emissions of nitrogen oxides, or NOx. Exposure to NOx has been
linked to respiratory conditions, according to the BAAQMD.
The rules do not apply to cooking appliances such as gas stoves.
Currently about two thirds of Bay Area households use natural
gas appliances, according to the regulator. The rules will
prevent up to 85 premature deaths per year and save up to $890
million a year in health-care costs and lost work.
They will apply to water heaters in single-family homes in 2027,
furnaces in 2029, and multifamily and commercial water heaters
in 2031. The compliance dates are meant to allow availability of
zero-emitting equipment to increase and costs to come down, the
BAAQMD said in a staff report.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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