The board, made up of 24 city council members and county supervisors<\/a> from around the Bay Area, is scheduled to make a final decision in October. But this week\u2019s meeting to discuss options<\/a> is expected to draw passionate testimony from people on both sides of the issue.<\/p>\n Environmental groups, who cheered the regulations in 2023, say the new proposal strikes a fair balance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are talking about a major source of pollution that needs to be addressed for public health and for climate,\u201d said Melissa Yu, a senior field organizer with the Sierra Club. \u201cThis policy helps our region move forward while giving people the time and flexibility needed.\u201d<\/p>\n A report from the air board\u2019s staff<\/a> concluded that water heaters and furnaces in the Bay Area generate 3,690 tons of nitrogen oxides a year, a key component of smog. That\u2019s more than all passenger vehicles in the Bay Area, the agency says, which emit 3,464 tons a year.<\/p>\n The rule to ban the sale and installation of all gas-burning furnaces would start Jan. 1, 2029, followed by a ban on gas-powered tankless water heaters Jan. 1, 2031. Combined, the new regulations would prevent between 37 and 85 deaths a year and avoid 15,000 asthma attacks a year in the Bay Area, the staff has calculated.<\/p>\n The water heater rules apply to any owner of a home or apartment who replaces a hot water heater after Jan. 1, 2027. They don\u2019t apply to stoves or other appliances.<\/p>\n But business and real estate groups say the entire plan needs to be scrapped and a new program drawn up that doesn\u2019t impose such a high price tag on already financially strapped residents.<\/p>\n \u201cThese costs are real,\u201d said Rufus Jeffris, a spokesman for the Bay Area Council, an organization that represents more than 375 of the region\u2019s largest employers. \u201cThe Bay Area is a very expensive place to live. People have been forced to leave. It\u2019s important that we take a look at how policies are financially impacting residents and business.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2024 study by the air district<\/a> found that it costs $3,575 on average to install a standard natural gas tank water heater in a single-family Bay Area home. The average electric heat pump water heater was estimated to cost $7,071 \u2014 a difference of $3,496.<\/p>\n The same 2024 study found that the average cost to replace a gas furnace in a single-family home is $6,347 in the Bay Area. The cost and installation of an electric heat pump appliance ranged between $17,122 and\u00a0$20,408.<\/p>\n Former President Joe Biden put in place multiple programs to fund rebates and tax credits for people who install solar power, heat pumps and renewable and low-pollution energy equipment. Many of them, however, have been blocked or killed by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Some credits and rebates still exist from the state, cities and utilities. They range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, depending on income level and location. They can be found at www.switchison.org<\/a> \u2014 a coalition of environmental groups and contractors supporting the shift to electric appliances.<\/p>\n Over the past year, some traditionally Democratic areas have backed away from rules phasing out gas appliances as concerns about the rising price of utilities, rent, food and gasoline have grown.<\/p>\n Last June, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board in Los Angeles voted 7-5<\/a> to reject a proposal like the Bay Area\u2019s to phase out residential gas-powered water heaters and furnaces in the Los Angeles basin.<\/p>\n A few months before, voters in Berkeley in November 2024 overwhelmingly rejected\u00a0Measure GG, a proposed tax on natural gas use in buildings of 15,000 square feet or larger. Environmental groups said the tax would help pay for heat pumps, solar energy and other technologies. But critics said it would saddle hospitals, nonprofit groups and even the YMCA with hundreds of thousands of dollars in new fees.<\/p>\n Last November, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, delayed the implementation of new rules in New York banning natural gas, propane, and heating oil-based appliances set to take effect Jan. 1.<\/p>\n \u201cMy number-one focus is affordability right now,\u201d Hochul said at the time.<\/p>\n
![\"Silicon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SJM-L-APPLIANCES-05XX-2.jpg\")
Silicon Valley Business Alliance President and former San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis speaks at a rally against the ban on natural gas appliances Monday, May 4, 2026, outside the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n