The Eugene City Council didn’t want voters to decide whether the city should ban natural gas hookups in new homes. It wasn’t a question for them to resolve, the council concluded.

Unfortunately, the council majority failed to realize that it wasn’t something they should determine either. Instead of letting the people who will build and buy these homes decide whether to install gas stoves, furnaces or fireplaces, the Eugene City Council voted 5-3 to ban natural gas infrastructure in new low-rise residential construction. With this vote, said Mayor Lucy Vinis, Eugene could lead the way in Oregon on building for the future. Councilmember Jennifer Yeh noted that many residents have been looking for leaders to take action on climate change. “We have to start moving,” she said. “And this is that movement.”

That’s a lot of self-congratulation for a change with very limited impact. The city’s sustainability manager wrote that banning such residential hookups would let the city avoid growth of 0.12% in natural gas usage annually. That’s hardly the kind of dramatic change that should motivate other communities to follow suit, although Milwaukie is developing its own proposal. But the ban has motivated opponents who appear to have gathered enough signatures to refer the ordinance to the November ballot. They need 6,460 signatures from registered voters to qualify; last Thursday, they submitted nearly 13,000. Voters apparently will have a say on the ban, after all, but opponents can now add government overreach to the argument against it.

Many communities are rightly exploring how to lower greenhouse gas emissions and adopt cleaner sources of energy as the impacts of climate change intensify. Electrification is a key element of that strategy, both in transportation and building infrastructure. And supporters of the ban aren’t incorrect that NW Natural, which has a lot to lose if more communities adopt Eugene’s approach, is funding the opposition campaign.

But that doesn’t alter the obligation for communities to make meaningful change that weighs the emissions reduction against other critical factors, including cost, the ability of the electrical system to meet increasing need and impacts to other urgent priorities – like building more housing in a housing crisis. Such considerations are particularly key when the government mandates action as opposed to incentivizing change. Unfortunately for Eugene, the passage of the ban smells more of symbolic posturing than thoughtful policy.

Even one city councilor who voted for the ban, Alan Zelenka, decried the piecemeal nature of the council’s approach. “It’s not part of a well-thought out strategy on how to proceed,” he said at the Feb. 6 meeting. “It might be different if this action would result in big huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, but it doesn’t.”

It’s important to note that banning gas hookups is not the same as eliminating natural gas as a power source. Even in Eugene, where the Eugene Water & Electric Board relies primarily on hydropower, the utility still needs to buy electricity produced by natural-gas power plants to meet demand, particularly during winter peaks. The utility also made clear in its draft strategic plan that natural gas will continue to be part of the mix as it integrates more renewable forms of energy. And even as demand is expected to increase significantly in the 2030s, uncertainty looms over the future of hydropower, the ability to transmit wind and solar power and the volatility of costs, the utility noted. Getting gas out of homes does not mean an easy path to clean energy by a longshot.

Homebuilders also dispute some Eugene City Councilors’ assertion that all-electric home construction is cheaper than electric plus gas. Even factoring in gas infrastructure expenses, the cost of a gas furnace was cheaper by nearly $6,000 to $8,000 than the cost of a heat pump that could do the same job, said Mike Erdmann, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Marion & Polk Counties, who based his assessment on reports from two HVAC contractors. Making housing more expensive when Oregon is in the midst of a housing crisis doesn’t make much sense.

That said, Eugene isn’t a hotbed of new construction anyway. According to the city’s planning website, the city issued permits for only 970 new apartments and homes in 2022. Meanwhile, a national report by Up for Growth last year showed the city has a housing shortage of more than 6,500 units. The Eugene City Council might want to consider focusing more on encouraging housing than passing a ban that generates little but bragging rights.

Eugene City Council could have led the way by offering incentives and explaining why electrification is a good choice to consider while still respecting individuals’ right to choose for themselves. Prolonged weather-related electricity outages in recent years show exactly why someone might want gas stoves and fireplaces – and even gas furnaces, with a generator – to keep warm and fed when the electricity is out.

Assuming county elections officials confirm that the ordinance will be on the November ballot, it will be up to Eugene residents to decide whether to be the guinea pigs on this new front. But other Oregon communities who recognize that substance matters more than symbolism should stay on the sidelines.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board