03-04-2025
Lewis County passes resolution aimed at protecting use of natural gas for heating, cooking
Apr. 2—The Lewis County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, April 1, passed a resolution aimed at protecting the installation of gas furnaces for heating and cooking in new home and commercial construction.
The resolution is designed to put county code in line with a 2024 voter initiative that was recently overturned by a King County Superior Court judge's ruling.
Initiative 2066, which passed in November with 51.71% of the vote in the state, rolls back a number of state policies passed by the Legislature or enacted by the state Building Code Council that provided incentives for builders to install electric heat pumps in new construction and ramped up Puget Sound Electric's transition away from natural gas.
Opponents have said the state's moves are aimed at eliminating natural gas as a heating and cooking source.
The new Lewis County resolution follows the guidelines of Initiative 2066 by repealing parts of the Washington State Energy Code that they say discriminate against the use of natural gas appliances and replaces them with parts of the 2021 International Residential Code and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, which endorse the use of combustion-fueled heating systems.
Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope introduced the county's resolution and used it as an opportunity to stress that the resolution followed the will of Washington voters who approved Initiative 2066.
"We are here to fulfill a duty to our constituents and uphold the will of Washington state voters by passing this resolution to protect access to natural gas in Lewis County," Swope said. "Initiative 2066 passed with overwhelming support last November, clearly stating that people want the freedom to choose reliable and affordable energy options."
King County Superior Court Judge Sandra Widlan overturned Initiative 2066 on March 21. Widlan said in her published opinion that the initiative violates a law that limits citizen initiatives to covering just one subject, that its title is misleading and that it does not provide the text of the state laws that it would change.
Opponents of the 2024 initiative had claimed that it was unconstitutional when it was passed in November citing the same issues and claiming that many voters likely skipped over the measure because they were unsure what it would do.
The Building Industry Association of Washington, which was the leading force behind Initiative 2066, stated at that time that the initiative was crafted with such a legal challenge in mind, according to reporting from The Washington State Standard.
The future of the policy is now uncertain.
Parts of Initiative 2066 were supposed to be implemented in January. Now, with the court ruling, the initiative is null and void unless ruled constitutional by a higher court. That outcome is possible as supporters of the ballot initiative have said that they intend to challenge the ruling.
