APGA is becoming increasingly concerned that there are some who are aggressively pushing to move the end-use energy market towards an all-electric society, as exemplified in the “Green New Deal” (GND). This push towards electrification would remove the ability of consumers to choose the appliance that best suits their needs while significantly increasing energy costs.
In addition, any claim that current technologies exist to carry-out all of the GND policy objectives are dubious at best. For example, any claim that the electric grid is capable to deliver adequate energy to consumers and businesses during extreme cold weather events is simply not true; as is the ability of the U.S. housing stock to accommodate the increase in electric load. In the residential sector alone, natural gas provides about the same total energy as electricity, each at approximately 4.7 quadrillion Btus (quads).
This approach ignores the many benefits that the direct use of natural gas provides. The benefits of natural gas go well beyond just affordability, reliability and resilience. The direct use of natural gas reduces greenhouse gas and should play a major role in discussions about how to address both climate change and air quality.