At the very end of this article
<< Meanwhile, California utility Pacific Gas & Electric has declared support for a potential statewide ban on natural gas in new buildings to “avoid investments in new gas assets” that might be left stranded by the state’s push for a zero-carbon economy by 2045. >>
I think this “stranded assets” is nonsense. The natural gas infrastructure can be used for transporting hydrogen and that should replace natural gas in the future.
I think that PG&E is trying to lock consumers into heating using electricity, which is more expensive than natural gas. The future electric rates should be decreased, not increased because renewables (solar and especially wind) are coming down in cost per kWh, but I’ve never heard of an investor owned utility applying for a rate decrease. Have you? Hah-hah-hah! No way! So by banning new natural gas infrastructure, they are locking consumers into a non-competitive, single source monopoly. That’s not what consumers need.
Beware of Corporate Lethargy and Greed
There seems to be a range of plans for the future to steer the U.S. away from a fossil fuel economy. In my opinion the major corporations such as investor owned utilities are trying to steer the governments (such as public utilities commissions) away from the most effective way towards a fossil fuel-free economy and to the least burdensome way for the corporations. This path has to be prevented if the world is to be saved from the brink of climate change disaster.
I read the wiki about Regulatory Capture. I suspect this is especially troubling with the regulated utilities. They have much to gain from manipulating government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
Right now the consensus is that we have waited too long to make the changes away from fossil fuels and that it will be necessary to implement carbon removal infrastructure to prevent the global warming disaster. We need to do this immediately by capturing CO2 and storing it away from the atmosphere. Time is short!
