High cost of gas to electric conversion

Stuart - you are correct. For the record, until my retirement I was the senior energy engineer for the University of California system in the Office of the President. Based on a Btu per Btu basis, electricity is 5 times more expensive than natural gas. Also, in PG&E territory we have just been placed on time-of-use rates making electricity from 4 to 9 pm far more expensive than during the day. That is exactly when one heats and when one cooks. PG&E even admits that this rate structure is in response to the need to buy brown energy as sufficient green energy is not available during those hours.

The life cycle cost, including the initial expense and the ongoing utility billing, will be unaffordable for most. All in the name of climate change? The perpetrators of these mandates are clearly not aware of, or even purposely ignoring, the gas to electricity conversion ramifications. Our city councils should demonstrate political courage and scrutinize the studies that are being forwarded by biased consultants. Ask any professional energy engineer and he or she will agree with me.

Thank you, Mr. Hansen, for providing some real numbers to the costs of upgrading to electric-only. Supposedly, this electric-only mandate is to help with global warming, but although it may make people think they’re actually doing something, in reality, the electricity is mostly coming from carbon-based generation systems. To wit, Newsom just authorized the building of five new gas-powered plants in CA to help with electricity demands because this renewable energy thing just isn’t cutting the mustard. Make sure you keep matches and firewood, or charcoal briquettes in stock because when PG&E has more inevitable outages, you’ll need to cook and heat water the old fashioned way.

Thanks for the estimate. The other intangible cost is it eliminates natural gas as a back up source of power in an emergency.