Restaurant Group to Appeal Berkeley Ban on Natural Gas Hookups

The California Restaurant Association will challenge a federal court’s finding that upheld Berkeley’s ban on new natural gas hookups against a claim that the statute is preempted by federal law.

The city’s ordinance limits appliances in newly constructed buildings to using only electric power and not natural gas. This action effectively prohibits the use of gas appliances and is preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the group told the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers declined to take up the group’s “expansive interpretation” of the EPCA in a July 6 ruling ...