BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller said he walked out of the Bay Area Air District’s meeting after 20 minutes Wednesday (Nov. 4) because he wanted to repeal a ban on gas water heaters, but that wasn’t allowed as an option.
“We were basically boxed in,” Mueller said on a phone call after the meeting in San Francisco.
The air district board, made up of elected officials from around the Bay Area, voted to delay the ban in single-family homes by a year, from January 2027 to January 2028. “This decision protects public health and respects what households can manage,” Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said in a statement Wednesday.
The main concern for those against the ban is the cost of living, especially as rents and gas prices are on the rise.
A standard electric water heater costs $3,500 to install – $600 to $1,600 more than a gas water heater, the air district estimated.
Property owners with limited electrical capacity or physical space can get an exemption from the ban. So can low-income residents.
The air district estimated that about half of property owners can get an ex-emption, allowing them to replace their gas water heaters with the same appliance.
From the Peninsula, Palo Alto Mayor Vicki Veenker, San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo, Mountain View Councilman Chris Clark and Sunnyvale Councilwoman Linda Sell have supported the ban.
Veenker has compared the nitrogen oxide emissions to secondhand smoke and said residents would end up saving money on health care.
The air district is also working to ban new gas space heaters in January 2029 and gas water heaters for apartments and commercial properties in January 2033.
Thank you, Mr. Mueller