DC Bill Proposes Free Electric Stoves for Low-Income Households

(NewsReady.com) – A 2022 study published in the Environmental Science and Technology journal revealed that gas stoves could lead to toxic indoor pollution. A peer-reviewed study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found the appliances contributed to more than 12% of childhood asthma cases. There’s now a movement to replace gas stoves with electric ones, and a bill in Washington, DC, would incentivize people to replace theirs.

In 2022, Democratic Councilman Charles Allen introduced the Healthy Homes and Residential Electrification Amendment Act (B119). The legislation didn’t go anywhere, so the DC lawmaker introduced it to the city council again on February 2 of this year. The bill aims to use money allocated by the Inflation Reduction Act to provide families that make less than $80,000 annually with the funds to purchase and install an electric stove for free.

According to The Washington Post, the bill sets a goal of retrofitting 5,000 homes by the end of 2025 and 30,000 households by December 2040. Allen told Fox 5 DC that households must switch from gas to electric very quickly if the nation’s capital “is going to hit its own goals for reducing carbon emissions and mitigate the worst-case scenarios for climate change.”

DC Councilmember @charlesallen's Healthy Homes Act will help DC families transition off fossil fuels for home heating and lower utility bills, improve indoor air, and cut climate pollution.https://t.co/JVwfOmUwAg

— Sierra Club DC (@SierraDC) February 3, 2023

The legislation also creates a permitting fee for people who install fossil fuel-burning appliances during renovations.

There have been rumblings that President Joe Biden’s administration wants to ban gas stoves nationwide. That caused an uproar among Conservative lawmakers. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) tweeted, “God. Guns. Gas stoves,” when word got out.

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) tweeted that he would “NEVER” give up his appliance. He called the Biden administration “maniacs” if they think they will be able to take it from him. “COME AND TAKE IT!!” he said, a play on the phrase Second Amendment supporters often use.