Federal Court Overturns Berkeley Natural Gas Ban

On April 17, a federal appeals court ruled against a California city’s natural gas ban, with significant implications for California and the country.

In the summer of 2019, Berkeley was the first city in California to pass a controversial ordinance that banned new natural gas hookups in residential and commercial construction. Afterward, close to a hundred other cities in the state of California, mostly in coastal areas of the state, followed Berkeley’s lead and enacted natural gas bans of their own.

“The environmental community in this state and in this country have been pushing electrification really, really hard,” says Tom Sheehy, Principal and Founder of Sheehy Strategy Group. “And part of their electrification push has revolved around banning natural gas installations.”

Environmentalist efforts had been unable to attain natural gas bans through the Legislature in some states, so the strategy turned toward building codes on a city-by-city basis, and consequently, the efforts experienced much higher levels of success. California’s bans had a rippling effect, as many cities across the country—including San Francisco, New York City, San Jose, Seattle, and Cambridge, Massachusetts—have moved to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings.

In response to Berkeley’s ban, the California Restaurant Association filed suit in federal court, arguing that the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975 preempts municipal law. When the suit was filed, the Restaurant Association lost the first round of the litigation at the trial court level. However, the organization appealed the decision, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco responded to the case, ruling that EPCA was preeminent over the city's ban, overturning the trial court decision on April 17.

The ruling carries great significance, as it not only reverses the ban in Berkeley, but it also affects numerous other cities throughout California and clarifies the law for the entire country.

According to Sheehy, the ruling has the power to undo the natural gas bans in California and across the United States. Many municipalities in California may be forced to proactively repeal ordinances that were passed or be subject to major financial claims from gas companies and others impacted by the bans.

The ruling also represents a great victory for the natural gas industry. “What was an existential threat in the rush toward electrification, has now been stopped dead in its tracks by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco,” Sheehy says.

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