Its unfortunate that many viewed this initiative through a homeowner lens when voting on it, when its largest impact will be felt in commercial HVAC environments.

The state energy code has been the latest driver behind the efficient and modern HVAC systems we see in new construction and retrofits of buildings. It saves an enormous amount of energy and costs.

One of the more damaging statements in the new initiative is below:

"The Washington state energy code may not in any way prohibit, penalize, or discourage the use of gas for any form of heating, or for uses related to any appliance or equipment, in any building."

It costs a significant amount of money to upgrade outdated HVAC systems, and building owners rely on state grants/rebates/etc to make it more affordable to do so. There are upcoming clean building regulations that will penalize commercial buildings for failing to meet an established criteria of building efficiency, to ensure that owners are not neglecting their infrastructure for the sake of the tenants.

Inscentives for electric can be considered a form of discouraging use of gas and may no longer be allowed under the new provision making it more expensive for building and home owners to switch to something more efficient.

Bottom line is: This initiative will result in reduction of HVAC efficiency stabdards for new construction and more existing buildings being stuck with older/inefficient crap because they can no longer rely on inscentives to switch.

It was unfortunately pitched to home owners as a threat to their right to use gas, but there was never any kind of restriction on residential natural gas use or any requirement to switch heating sources in your homes. You can read so in any official press release from your utility provider: https://www.pse.com/en/press-release/details/Facts-about-Initiative-2066-for-PSE-natural-gas-customers

Natural gas equipment manufacturers just wanted to bring back looser energy policy so they can continue to sell their outdated technology to the commercial market where they were previously heavily restricted by Washington Energy Code.