The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce is concerned about the City of Santa Barbara’s potential “REACH Code” ordinance that would prohibit the use of natural gas in new commercial and residential development.
We understand that on Nov. 30, the City Council’s Sustainability Committee approved a motion directing staff to proceed with the development of a REACH Code that would prohibit the use of natural gas in new commercial and residential development.
On Jan. 12, the full City Council voted to direct to staff to produce a plan to require all-electric construction with new buildings. We ask that the council strongly consider the unintended consequences of the proposal and delay or deny its progress.
The timing of this proposal is problematic and creates additional economic hardship on business during their time of need.
The City of Santa Barbara’s economy and tax base, which relies heavily on tourism and hospitality, has been devastated by COVID-19. Hundreds of Santa Barbara businesses have closed their doors, and many will likely never reopen.
Many Santa Barbara residents have been laid off or furloughed, and it will likely take years for our local economy to fully recover.
We ask that the city not impose new costs for businesses and property owners right now. Instead, we ask to solely focus on policies that matter most to residents right now: protecting public health and getting Santa Barbara businesses to reopen so residents can get back to work.
We understand that climate change is a pressing issue and that it contributes to extreme weather. Santa Barbara’s economy and business community has been affected by recent fires, mudslides and heatwaves, so we understand the need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
But banning natural gas services in a few dozen commercial and residential developments per year is not the best way to address climate change. That type of proposal has little to no effect on global climate change and only leads to increased building and operating costs.
We at the Chamber are willing and interested to work with the city on sustainability measures that make a real difference and that also support business.
The current proposal is not efficient because there isn’t much new development in Santa Barbara to begin with, and new buildings are required to be built to latest state and local standards.
California and Santa Barbara already have some of the strictest building standards in the nation. New buildings in Santa Barbara are going to be the most energy-efficient and lowest emitting in the city compared to Santa Barbara’s older existing building stock.
By only focusing on new development, the proposal places those properties at a competitive disadvantage by increasing their costs and making them less attractive to owners and tenants while allowing the vast majority of properties in the city to use natural gas.
In Santa Barbara, natural gas is four to six times cheaper than electricity. The California Building Industry Association estimates that swapping out natural gas appliances for all-electric alternatives costs the average Southern California household more than $877 a year in higher energy bills.
Those costs are higher for commercial and industrial properties, especially those that rely on natural gas for their core operations — like hotels, restaurants, spas and breweries/wineries.
This type of policy increases the risk of driving businesses to other cities or regions, which would further hurt our economy and the city’s tax base.
We believe that banning natural gas in new buildings when the city is facing Public Safety Power Shutoffs, wildfires and rolling blackouts also jeopardizes our health and safety.
Businesses can’t operate if they must rely on an energy system that is becoming increasingly unreliable. While most natural gas equipment manufactured today includes electronic ignition, they can still be manually lit, giving businesses and residents the ability to cook food and warm water during a power outage.
This issue becomes even more concerning with extended outages that can last for multiple days or weeks. Many of the businesses in Santa Barbara are small businesses that can least afford to install solar systems, battery storage or backup generators to help them get through power outages.
Relying on one energy system is risky and makes us all more vulnerable to disasters.
Finally, residents, business owners and tourists prefer cooking and heating with gas. Santa Barbara already has higher than average business costs.
If energy costs increase or new property owners aren’t allowed to use the equipment they want, they will be less likely to rent, build or purchase homes. That makes Santa Barbara less attractive to live and visit.
If people aren’t allowed to use natural gas to cook outdoors, they may end up using charcoal, propane and wood for fuel, which are dirty sources of fuel and bad for air quality.
Restaurants also prefer to use natural gas for cooking. Even if they are exempted from the REACH Code, commercial property developers and owners don’t know who will be occupying their buildings when they are built or when leases expire. Restaurants will not be willing to lease a property if they cannot use natural gas to cook.
Instead of banning natural gas, we are offering to work with the city to focus on encouraging all residents and businesses to conserve and reduce their energy use. Santa Barbara has an older building stock. Providing incentives for owners to weatherize their property and install more energy-efficient equipment would result in a greater reduction in energy use and lessen the burden on property owners and tenants.
We appreciate the city’s efforts to make Santa Barbara more sustainable. We also want to keep Santa Barbara beautiful and an attractive place to live and visit.
We believe that banning natural gas is not an effective policy to achieve our mutual goals and that the proposal is poorly timed. Instead of developing a REACH Code, the City Council should instead focus all of its efforts on rebuilding Santa Barbara’s economy.
— Kristen Miller is president and CEO of the Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce. The opinions expressed are her own.