Ohio Considers Joining Growing Coalition To Protect Natural Gas

Ohio may soon join a dozen U.S. states to have enact­ed leg­is­la­tion to pre­emp­tive­ly block cities and coun­ties from ban­ning nat­ur­al gas as a source of heat­ing or cook­ing in new homes.

A com­mit­tee at the Ohio Sen­ate was expect­ed to vote on Tues­day on such leg­is­la­tion, Ohio Cap­i­tal-Jour­nal report­ed. The so-called House Bill 201, if it makes the com­mit­tee vote on Tues­day, could be head­ed for a full vote at the Sen­ate as ear­ly as this week.

Ohio House passed the bill last month with 65 votes in favor and 32 against, with all Repub­li­cans and two Democ­rats sup­port­ing it.

If the bill becomes law, it would pre­emp­tive­ly block cities and coun­ties in the state of Ohio from enact­ing a zon­ing or oth­er law that “lim­its, pro­hibits, or pre­vents” cus­tomers, includ­ing house­holds and busi­ness­es, from hav­ing a nat­ur­al gas or propane service.

Pro­po­nents and sup­port­ers of the Ohio bill say that it keeps the right of the peo­ple and busi­ness­es to choose their choic­es of ener­gy, while bans on nat­ur­al gas would force them to choose more cost­ly appliances.

Oppo­nents of the bill, for their part, argue that such pre­emp­tive leg­is­la­tion cares for the need of the fos­sil fuel industry.

“It’s clear­ly not a piece of leg­is­la­tion about what’s best for Ohio,” Dan Sawmiller, Ohio ener­gy pol­i­cy direc­tor at the Nation­al Resources Defense Coun­cil (NRDC), told Ohio Cap­i­tal Jour­nal in an interview.

“It’s about what’s best for the fos­sil fuel indus­try,” Sawmiller added.

Since the city of Berke­ley in Cal­i­for­nia enact­ed in 2019 the first city-wide ban on new nat­ur­al gas hookups in res­i­den­tial build­ings, oth­er major cities have fol­lowed. Some states, how­ev­er, are not hav­ing it and have either intro­duced or already enact­ed into law pre­emp­tion bills to pre­vent cities from nat­ur­al gas bans.

Accord­ing to NRDC, as of June 1, pre­emp­tion bills were intro­duced in 19 states this year, 14 of which have been enact­ed into law or await­ing final sig­na­ture from the state’s gov­er­nor. The 19 states are Alaba­ma, Arkansas, Col­orado, Flori­da, Geor­gia, Indi­ana, Iowa, Kansas, Ken­tucky, Michi­gan, Mis­sis­sip­pi, Mis­souri, North Car­oli­na, Ohio, Penn­syl­va­nia, Texas, Utah, West Vir­ginia, and Wyoming.