The financial part of the article is why we’re seeing extensive adoption in rural locations, where people depend on propane, but not in urban areas which are hooked up to the methane distribution system. Getting universal adoption is going to require making electricity cheap and providing support for the appliance switch itself.
I’ve been thinking about this. My house came with gas when I bought it. If I switch to full electric, what happens to my gas line? Does the gas company just say “ok, no problem, we’ll stop supplying gas to your line”? I imagine as long as the gas line exists, they have to maintain it, hence will continue to charge me. Right now I’m paying around $50 per month but when you break down the bill, the actual gas used is less than $5, and the rest are fees (which I assume some of it is for maintenance).
I highly doubt you would have to pay anything if you cancel your service. I’ve never heard of anything like that around here, but rules can vary from place to place. You could find out with a call to the gas company though.
I imagine they would shut it off from the street, and your lines wouldn’t have any gas in them.
Right, but the line that they had to lay in plus the digging was on their dime. Would they just be ok to leave that infrastructure there knowing nobody is paying for it? Obviously I should just go and ask, but I’m just thinking out loud. I guess they can bet on the homeowner not living there forever and hope the next resident will want to re-instate gas.
In my state, the gas company charges the property owner installation fees on installing a gas line to the property.
So they’re not really out much if a homeowner changes their mind.
That’s a good point. I live in a new neighborhood, so the builder likely paid the gas company to set up all the gas lines.
Yeah, and while the gas company probably doesn’t charge full price for the installation, they make their money back pretty quickly, so it all comes out in the wash anyways.
well that infrastructure is a sunk cost, and maintaining it is gonna be a huge problem as fewer and fewer users have gas in the coming decades https://heatmap.news/ideas/la-fires-natural-gas
You just get it capped off, and the money you’ll save on your homeowners insurance will more than pay for any fees that have for doing so.
I’ve never considered that angle. I’m guessing it’s from lower risk of gas explosion. what’s the savings like?
Whoa. What? Having gas appliances increases insurance? I’ve never been asked if my home has gas appliances by an insurance company.
You can have the line capped off