By Carleen Johnson | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Natural gas access will remain an option in Washington state with the passage of Initiative 2066.

With more than 3.5 million votes tallied as of Friday evening, 51.53% (1,729,456 votes) were in favor of approving I-2066 to 48.47% (1,627,006 votes) opposed.

I-2066 will repeal the provisions of a new state law, House Bill 1589, meant to speed up Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas. It also bars cities and counties from prohibiting, penalizing or discouraging “the use of gas for any form of heating, or for uses related to any appliance or equipment, in any building.”

“Today we are celebrating I-2066 being approved by voters alongside the 533,005 Washingtonians who signed their name to protect energy choice in our state. The legislature’s decision to eliminate natural gas as an energy source was clear overreach,” said Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, the organization behind the initiative, in a statement. “We fought for Washington’s rural communities that couldn’t survive the freezing winters and grid blackouts without natural gas. We fought for small businesses who could not afford to retrofit their buildings to electric. We fought for Washingtonians tired of being forced to comply with policies that make their lives more difficult from a legislature that has proven they aren’t listening to citizens. We are proud to stand with the BIAW who is leading the charge to cut costs for home builders and home buyers and take the homeless crisis head-on by providing affordable and attainable housing options for our state. We remain committed to fighting for the people of our state, we are overjoyed to be sharing this victory with our supporters and we will continue working to fix what’s broken.”

“When all the votes come in, we’re going to win,” said Building Industry Association Vice President Greg Lane in a Tuesday night interview with The Center Square.

“More than half a million individual voters and more than 400 businesses came together to bring I-2066 to the ballot in just seven weeks. The 546,000+ signatures gathered was the second-highest for a state initiative and the most gathered in over 50 years,” according to a Nov. 6 news release from BIAW.

2066 repeals parts of a 2024 law that hastens Puget Sound Energy’s transition away from natural gas as part of an overall plan toward using more electricity.

The measure will require utilities to offer natural gas and bans any utility plan that disincentivizes or bans natural gas.

“We did this because affordable housing and providing opportunities for home ownership in the state of Washington is critical and we need to make that more affordable,” Lane said. “Policies that drive up the cost of housing both for current homeowners as well as future homeowners are not good policy and voters agreed with that.”

Opponents argued the measure would undo progressive climate measures and increase costs over time.

The NO on 2066 campaign made the argument that as more and more homeowners change out gas for electric appliances, it would leave a smaller number of residents on the hook for paying to maintain a system serving fewer customers, thereby forcing them to shoulder a larger share of operating and maintenance costs.

Puget Sound Energy reported that gas use is declining — down 7% for residential and 3% for commercial customers based on 2023 numbers.

The Center Square reached out to the Washington State Building Code Council for comment on impacts to current code assuming I-2066 passes, as the SBCC currently prohibits natural gas hookups for new homes and businesses.

“While the passing of I-2066 could require modifications to building codes, the SBCC does not believe it would repeal the 2021 energy code,” said Washington State Department of Enterprise Services Communications Manager Jennifer Reynolds via email.

“State Building Code Council must use the rulemaking process to update state building codes. This is done every three years to align with national model codes and ensure current legislative energy policy guidance (WA State Energy Code) is up to date,” said Reynolds.

I-2066 could have an impact beyond Washington state.

“In a state like Washington that is very progressive, for citizens here to stand up and say no, natural gas needs to be a part of the energy mix going forward and it doesn’t make sense to ban or restrict an affordable and reliable energy resource like natural gas, sends a really strong message across the country,” Lane said, adding BIAW is hearing from people in several other states.

“Our national association and my counterparts in other states have absolutely been talking to me about this and watching what happens here,” he said. “They are fighting this battle in New York, they’re fighting this battle in Illinois and they’re fighting this battle in Colorado right now and it’s coming up in other states as well. They are absolutely watching what is going to happen here in Washington and how that could impact the debate around this policy in their states.”