Members of a city council in the meeting chambers
The Santa Clara City Council voted 5-2 on Jan. 14, 2025 to suspend the city’s ban on natural gas in new construction over potential legal issues. Photo by B. Sakura Cannestra.

Santa Clara has paused its ban on natural gas in new buildings and is looking for other ways to lower its greenhouse gas emissions.

The Santa Clara City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday to suspend the city’s ban on natural gas in new construction over potential legal issues, with Councilmembers Kevin Park and Suds Jain voting no. Santa Clara’s climate action plan has a goal for the city to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2035, in order to meet the state’s goal of net carbon neutrality by 2045.

Cities across California have been scrambling to find new ways to disincentivize the use of natural gas after a 2023 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley barred cities from outright banning it. In light of that decision, Campbell and Los Gatos both adjusted their policies last year to ban the installation of nitrogen oxide-emitting equipment, including gas-powered furnaces or stoves.

Reena Brilliot, Santa Clara director of economic development and sustainability, said the city will draft a replacement policy requiring new buildings to maintain high levels of energy efficiency, in order to protect the city from potential legal action and give developers and residents flexibility. The new policy would also require electric infrastructure to be built into new construction regardless of whether gas appliances are also used.

It’s unclear how far Santa Clara has come in achieving its emission reduction goals. City spokesperson Janine De la Vega said parts of the city are working toward these efforts, but no data is available to measure the progress.

Jain, who advocated for the climate action plan to be updated in 2022, said the city has to do more work to meet its emission reduction targets.

“I am trying my hardest to get (the city) to hit it,” Jain told San José Spotlight. “With a big project, you have to have milestones, otherwise you won’t make your final goal.”

The city’s all-electric requirement only covers new construction, which Jain said is easier to handle, because new buildings can be built with electric wiring. He wants to incentivize residents to switch from gas to electric and proposed a referral to expand the city’s environmental building codes to also cover existing buildings. The referral passed unanimously Tuesday, but may not return to council until after policies for new buildings are decided.
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Councilmember Karen Hardy said she’s concerned about how expensive an electric mandate might be for residents with existing gas appliances, and that she’ll be interested to see what financial support the city can provide to residents switching to electric. Jain also stressed the importance of financial incentives, such as rebates or reduced permitting costs.

“I want to look at all this, I like to have more options,” Hardy told San José Spotlight. “I don’t like the city prescribing and limiting people when they don’t fit this situation that we’re talking about.”

Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.

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