As SoCal air regulators try to phase out polluting appliances, the gas lobby fights back

Update, 3:56 p.m. Friday: The South Coast AQMD board rejected the regulations Friday. Read more here.

Southern California air regulators will vote Friday on two proposed regulations to curb smog and lessen pollution that’s heating up the planet.

For nearly two years, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates air quality across much of L.A., Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, has been working to update rules to phase out gas furnaces and water heaters, as well as incentivize replacing them with less polluting electric appliances, such as heat pumps.

These appliances may be small, but add them up across millions of homes and businesses and they’re actually one of the largest contributors to Southern California’s notorious smog, according to air district officials. A recent data analysis by climate think tank Rocky Mountain Institute found that gas-burning equipment in homes and businesses in Greater L.A. produce seven times more smog-forming pollution than the region’s power plants.

And buildings, mostly because they’re hooked up to methane gas pipes and appliances, account for about a quarter of the state’s planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions, according to state air regulators.

The rules have been controversial — and faced heavy pushback from industry stakeholders.

Environmental advocates say the rules have been watered down significantly and should be stricter, while the gas industry and its partners say the rules will strain the power grid and raise costs for consumers.

What the rules say

Since the rulemaking process began in 2023, industry stakeholders have scored wins: The rules have gone from an outright mandate to install zero-emission furnaces and water heaters in new homes and buildings, to a significantly extended and more flexible timeline to phase out these appliances.

As initially proposed in October 2024, the rules would have required that all furnaces and water heaters installed in new residential and commercial buildings be zero-emission by 2026, while existing homes and mobile homes had a little more time to make the switch.

The amended proposed rules 1111 and 1121 would require manufacturers to gradually start selling more zero-emissions furnaces and water heaters: a 30% sales target by 2027, 50% in 2029 and eventually 90% in 2036.

The rules no longer mandate that these appliances be zero-emission by a specific date. Instead, if passed, traditional gas-powered appliances would still be sold, but manufacturers would have to pay surcharges for those units, a cost they’re likely to pass on to consumers.

Those fees will go toward a new incentive program to help households and small businesses switch to electric appliances, such as heat pump water heaters.

Air district officials say the rules are still the second-largest cut to pollutants of any rule in recent decades.

SoCal Gas and business groups double down

In recent months, affected manufacturers and utilities such as SoCal Gas, have pushed back hard on the amended rules, in some cases continuing to call them a ban on gas furnaces and water heaters.

In late 2024, a campaign by industry stakeholders to oppose the amended rules began in earnest, according to records obtained by the Energy and Policy Institute and shared with LAist. Industry groups emailed politicians and government councils with pre-written opposition letters and talking points to reject the rules.

“This is one of the largest efforts by SoCal Gas and other gas-affiliated organizations to delay a rule,” said Charlie Spatz, a researcher with the watchdog think tank.

Political lobbying of this kind is not a new tactic by SoCal Gas, and state regulators have fined the utility for using ratepayer funds to do it in the past.

“It's a lot of the same tactics, which is trying to delay the process and submit as many opposition comments as possible to intimidate the regulators,” Spatz said.

For example, SoCal Gas employees and consultants from BizFed, a coalition of local business and trade groups, sent a flurry of “urgent” requests to local public officials before an AQMD meeting in December, according to the records Spatz shared with LAist:

• Dec. 9: A SoCal Gas employee emailed a member of the Ontario City Council asking her to testify at the meeting, sending along SoCal Gas talking points. The rules are “essentially prohibiting the sale and installation of natural gas appliances,” the SoCal Gas employee wrote. The councilmember did end up testifying. 
• Dec. 17: a SoCal Gas employee emailed a city of Norco official, asking her to testify or submit a letter opposing the rules. He included a sample letter in the email and city officials replied with the opposition letter he’d sent. 
• Some of the letters that AQMD received from public officials were drafted by a consultant working for BizFed. Nearly verbatim letters were sent to district officials by the Orange County Council of Governments, Loma Linda, Lake Forest, La Verne and Chino. 
• That BizFed consultant also drafted a resolution for cities to pass. It misleadingly referred to the older version of the rules. Chino Hills, La Verne, Loma Linda and the San Bernardino Council of Governments ended up passing those resolutions, which incorrectly called the updated proposed rules a “ban” on natural gas furnaces and water heaters. 

South Coast AQMD received more than 14,500 comments about the rules. Citing the misinformation regarding a “ban” in many of the letters, staff put together a “myths versus facts” explainer in response.

“Many that opposed the proposed amended rules because they believe the proposed rules will require them to replace their existing NOx-emitting gas units with electric units, including their stoves,” staff wrote in their report for the district board. (Nitrogen oxides, or NOx, are pollutants that contribute to the formation of smog.) “This is in large part due to misinformation provided by outside groups, implying the proposed rules are still a mandate and consumers will not be able to purchase NOx-emitting gas units.”

Bizfed president David Englin defended the effort.

"The end game is a ban," Englin told LAist. "If the goal is ultimately zero emissions, there are a variety of ways to accomplish that, but it really comes down to who pays. We support an all-of-the-above approach."

Ultimately the lobbying and thousands of comments received about the proposed rules delayed the vote by more than four months.

SoCal Gas says the effort is a normal part of the rule proposal process and that the rules could usurp federal law, which is what industry trade groups have argued in an ongoing lawsuit filed by trade groups against the AQMD about a similar law focused on other gas appliances, such as stoves.

“SoCal Gas’ stakeholder engagement and outreach efforts on this topic are a regular part of any rulemaking process where we share information that could affect Southern California customers,” a spokesperson for the utility wrote in an emailed statement to LAist.

On Thursday afternoon, a federal prosecutor threatened to sue the AQMD if it passed the rules.

"California regulators are on notice: If you pass illegal bans or penalties on gas appliances, we’ll see you in court," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote in a post on X. "The law is clear — feds set energy policy, not unelected climate bureaucrats."

The board of the AQMD is made up of 10 elected officials plus three members appointed by state elected officials.

How to attend the next hearing

SCAQMD's headquarters in Diamond Bar.

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Julia Barajas

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LAist

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A public hearing was held Friday.

• Location: South Coast Air Quality Management District’s headquarters, 21865 Copley Drive in Diamond Bar
• Time: Starting at 9 a.m.
• Virtual link: https://scaqmd.zoom.us/j/93128605044 Meeting ID: 931 2860 5044

Members of the public can share comments in person, online or by phone.