In Oregon, proponents of switching from natural gas to electricity have recently won another battle.
On Tuesday, the Ashland City Council unanimously decided to impose a carbon emission fee on developers who install natural gas heating systems in newly constructed homes.
The resolution, which was supported by youth advocates and city officials, aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions, enhance indoor air quality in the city, and alter Ashland’s housing construction.
Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham told The Oregonian/OregonLive, “We understood that the climate crisis poses an existential threat to our community and to the globe and that we had a responsibility to do what we could in our community to tackle the causes of this crisis.”
Although the tax would also apply to energy systems that rely on coal, oil, propane, or kerosene, the law, which was designed after a similar one in Burlington, Vermont, aims to reduce the usage of natural gas hookups and appliances, such as furnaces, water heaters, stoves, clothes dryers, and fireplaces.
Since Eugene approved a law two years ago that would have made it illegal for many new homes to have natural gas hookups, Ashland’s ordinance is the first of its kind in Oregon. After a federal appeals court decision denied a similar gas ban in Berkeley, California, Eugene later repealed its measure.
Since then, despite opposition from Oregon’s natural gas industry and the federal lawsuit filed in California, a number of cities in Oregon that have adopted climate action plans, such as Ashland, Milwaukie, and Corvallis, have been looking to ban natural gas and offer incentives to use electricity in new construction.
Although it’s unknown how many of those ordinances were overturned as a result of the California court ruling, their efforts follow almost 100 cities, municipalities, and counties across the United States enacting prohibitions on the use of fossil fuels in new construction. Some jurisdictions have updated construction laws and mandated that developers fulfill energy performance and air quality criteria instead of outright prohibiting gas hookups.
An encouraging sign is the Ashland ordinance. In Oregon, a lot of towns want to make their cities responsible for the climate targets they set. According to Jess Grady-Benson, organizing director of Rogue Climate, a nonprofit organization centered on the switch to renewable energy with its headquarters in southern Oregon, “We hope this inspires them.” The Ashland ordinance was lobbied for by the group.
In addition to local construction trades unions and contractors, the NW Coalition for Energy Choice, a group supported by the Northwest Gas Association, a trade association for the gas industry, opposed the legislation, arguing that the energy system isn’t prepared to manage increased demand for electricity.
NW Natural was not available for comment at this time. Ashland’s primary natural gas supplier, Avista, expressed dissatisfaction with the carbon impact fee ordinance.
In a statement, Avista spokesperson Jared Webley said, “We acknowledge the City of Ashland’s good intentions to address climate change concerns, but this new impact fee will worsen housing inequality, increase the overall cost of housing, and add another potential financial barrier for individuals on the cusp of home ownership.” We think that natural gas contributes significantly to the region’s resilience, dependability, and affordability of energy, and that our consumers value energy options.
The social cost of greenhouse gases, a monetary value attributed to climate change damages arising from the production of one metric ton of greenhouse gases, will be used to determine the Ashland carbon tax, which is imposed for each dwelling unit in a building and is due upon the issuing of the building permit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released that figure.
The price will be determined by multiplying the metric tons of carbon for the particular device and its anticipated lifespan by the societal cost of greenhouse gasses. Gas furnace installation will cost $4,118.40, gas hot water heater installation will cost $1,289.60, gas fireplace installation will cost $728, gas stove installation will cost $374.40, and gas clothes dryer installation will cost $145.60. Every year, the fee will be modified in accordance with the Consumer Price Index’s percentage rise.
Wood fireplaces, propane grills, patio heaters, and other energy sources intended only for outdoor usage will not be subject to this rule.
According to the ordinance, natural gas firms who operate inside the city’s right of way must submit an annual report that lists all of the natural gas use in homes and businesses. The total number of functioning meters, broken down into residential and commercial accounts, must be included in the report for metered services.
Youths in Ashland joined the city’s Climate and Energy Policy Advisory Committee, staged protests, and collected hundreds of signatures and testimony from locals in order to approve the policy.
According to Graham, the city also engaged a lawyer to draft an ordinance that would be upholdable in court.
Much of the discussion surrounding this law has focused on legal danger, but Graham stated that we must also be mindful of the threat the climate catastrophe poses to the future of our children. The City of Ashland was inspired to enact this legislation for that reason.
On January 1, 2026, the Ashland ordinance becomes operative.
Gosia Wozniacka discusses a variety of environmental topics, including climate change, environmental justice, and the switch to sustainable energy. You may contact her at 971-421-3154 or [email protected].
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