Replacing natural gas appliances

If HB 1589 passes and PSE stops serving natural gas, homeowners with natural gas will need to:

• Remove all their natural gas appliances;
• Rewire the home and potentially the neighborhood if they’re all on natural gas;
• Purchase all-electric replacement appliances; and
• Dispose of the now-useless gas appliance.

BIAW estimates the following associated costs (details and sources):

• • $1,570.44 for an induction stove to replace natural gas stoves for cooking.
  • $2,165.07 to replace a natural gas water heater.
  • $7,800 on average to convert from a gas furnace to a heat pump, including tax credits and/or rebates.
  • $1,703.74 to replace a gas fireplace with an electric one. In most cases, you can’t convert a gas fireplace to woodburning. Electric fireplaces will be dark and useless if the power goes out.

Rewiring the home

Once people replace all their appliances, they need to ensure the home can accommodate the added electrical load. That includes:

• $2,890.44 for new electrical panels: To bear the new load, consumers will need a panel upgrade or additional panel.
• $10,000 to get the right size transmission wires from the street to the house in trenching or though a pole to the house.
• $3,492 to repave roads after trenching wires. Improving the transmission wires to homes served by natural gas will require digging up roads and repaving.
• $1,575 to rewire the neighborhood.
• New transformers. All houses upgrading panels will require a new transformer in the area, if builders can even get a transformer with massive supply chain issues right now. That’s a $5,297.25 per house cost.
• Drywall repair or replacement: Once the homeowners have enough power connected to their house, they need to connect it to the right places in the house. That cost is $4,978, including demolition, drywall repair or replacement and painting.

“Washington homeowners need energy choice as well as energy security,” he said. “This bill undermines important consumer protections, forcing natural gas customers to pay as much as $40,000 or more if the utility chooses not to continue serving them.”

TELL THE LEGISLATURE TO VOTE NO ON HB 1589 TODAY

Why oppose natural gas restrictions?

• Natural gas delivers warmth and comfort to more than 1.3 million Washington homes, 800,000 of those served by PSE. On average, natural gas monthly utility bills are 33% less expensive than electrical utility bills.
• 64% of PSE customers said they struggle to pay their monthly energy bills.
• PSE reports 35-40% of its customers are “energy burdened,” meaning they struggle to pay for current energy costs in their homes. HB 1589 includes assistance for the lowest-income customers. But all other ratepayers will pick up those costs, including Washington’s working-class families.
• Energy-burdened households are more likely to forgo food or medicine, pay their energy bills, lose housing, and remain in cycles of poverty, according to the state.
• HB 1589 will increase all PSE electric and natural gas customers’ rates. While a foreign-owned company makes a profit, Washington’s most vulnerable will make choices about heating their homes or eating.
• One third of manufacturers in Washington rely on natural gas to power their operations.
• Natural gas supports the energy needs of 200,000 businesses and institutions. HB 1589 would ensure those businesses pay more for energy.