Gas Lobby Group Goes on Attack to Halt Move to Ban New Hook-Ups

(Bloomberg) -- With moves to ban new natural gas hook-ups growing in popularity as a means of tackling climate change, the industry is fighting back.

The American Gas Association, which represents distributors, is seeking to forge new alliances to counter a trend started by Berkeley -- which became the first U.S. city to require new buildings to be all electric from January -- that has spread elsewhere in California and is on the verge of going national.

“We are well down that path of pulling in natural allies who can share the message that taking away options -- without understanding the implications -- is not fair to communities,” said Scott Prochazka, the new chairman of the AGA, who's also the chief executive officer of CenterPoint Energy Inc.

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The AGA cited as a recent example a proposal put forward in Seattle to adopt a ban on gas in new construction. The resolution was tabled after a diverse group of restaurant owners, labor unions, realtors and home builders came together in opposition.

“If the goal of the proponents of removing natural gas is to reduce emissions, then it's pretty short-sighted to remove natural gas,” AGA President Karen Harbert told reporters in Washington on Thursday. The fuel “is the source of energy which is reducing emissions and making renewables more viable.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Cunningham in Washington at scunningha10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Marino at dmarino4@bloomberg.net, Christine Buurma, Catherine Traywick

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