THE BAY AREA AIR DISTRICT is charging ahead with a natural gas appliance ban that is as impractical as it is punitive.

Despite legitimate concerns over implementation, costs and confusing exemptions, the board’s recent meeting on May 13 proved that the voices of 7.7 million residents are falling on deaf ears. This looming mandate, set to outlaw the sale of gas water heaters by January 2027, is a direct assault on the financial stability of families across nine counties.

Mayor Mark Salinas of Hayward and other board members raised critical questions that were systematically ignored. They spoke of the discriminatory impact on underserved communities and how these increased costs act as a regressive tax. Instead of substantive answers, the board’s staff offered a half-baked, one-time exemption application process for low-income residents and those requiring massive electrical upgrades, a gesture that raises more questions than it answers.

“We can’t talk to our constituents about affordability and then come here and impose these mandates. We’re sending mixed messages,” Salinas warned, exposing the hypocrisy of elected officials who claim to champion the working class while voting for a plan that will literally leave them in the cold.

To add insult to injury, this appointed legislative body — with no representation from the largest city in the nine Bay Area counties — operates with a rotating door of members, seemingly designed to make accountability impossible. They have no roadmap for how these exemptions will be adjudicated. Their only “solution” is a suggestion to meet in October to consider a nine-month delay to hammer out the details of the exemption application process, details they should have prepared years ago.

A void of uncertainty

Consequently, the public and business owners are left staring into a void of uncertainty created by this unfunded mandate with numerous questions.

  • Who will be responsible to adjudicate these exemptions — will it be the city, the county or this ever-changing board?
  • Will households be required to submit private tax returns to qualify, and which entity will handle this data?
  •  How will the data be stored?
  • Will the federal government have access to this data?
  • How long will the approval process take, especially for families and businesses left without hot water during the exemption application process?
  • Once an exemption is granted, where can gas replacement appliances be purchased once the standard models have been banned in the nine counties, and how much more will they cost as a result of the ban?

Southern California already abandoned similar mandates because they disproportionately affect vulnerable communities unable to navigate bureaucratic hurdles.

In fact, U.S. District Attorney Bilal Essayli reminded Southern California lawmakers their recent natural gas ban conflicts with the Ninth Circuit ruling on natural gas bans. This isn’t environmental progress — it is a hidden tax and a massive gift to the PG&E monopoly to upgrade the grid on the backs of uninformed ratepayers.

Even with a potential nine-month delay, this body has lost all public trust. Stop this mandate now. Abandon the coercion and pivot to an incentive-based plan that respects the community, just as eight of your own board members have demanded.

Johnny Khamis is president of the Silicon Valley Business Alliance and a former San Jose District 10 councilmember.

This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.