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NPGA corner

Ninth Circuit Berkeley Ban Stands
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Cir-
cuit has denied a rehearing petition filed by the City
of Berkeley, CA in the landmark decision California
Restaurant Association v. Berkeley. This denial means
that the original 9th Circuit ruling in Berkeley—hold-
ing that Berkeley’s gas ban violated federal law—will
stand for all of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii,
Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Only the United States Supreme Court could overturn
it now.
Sarah Jorgensen — lead counsel for the
supporters of energy choice in the Berkeley case and
NPGA's counsel in the New York State gas bans litiga- a global pact that calls for “transitioning away from
tion — will join Steve Kaminski, NPGA President and fossil fuels” like oil, gas, and coal. While the media is
CEO, for a fireside chat at the NPGA Winter Board referring to the pact as “the beginning of the end of
meeting in Monterey, CA, February 6th - 8th. Registra- fossil fuels,” it is important to note that it does not
tion for the meeting is open. (Please see page 27 for call for the phase-out or phase-down of fossil fuels.
the registration links under the Winter Board Meeting Early drafts did include the phase-out or phase-down
Section.)■ language, but the conference could not reach an

NPGA Sues DOE over Regulation on Consumer Furnaces agreement on the use of those terms. However, the
On October 13, 2023, NPGA joined the Amer- delegates reached a compromise that calls for coun-
ican Gas Association and American Public Gas Asso- tries to accelerate a global shift away from fossil fuels
ciation, suing the Department of Energy over its Final in a “just, orderly, and equitable manner.” Additionally,
Rule for Commercial Water Heaters in the District of the pact encourages nations to triple the amount of re-
Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. With the Monday, newable energy in use and to slash methane emissions
December 18 release of the DOE Final Rule on Con- by 2030.■
sumer Furnaces, our coalition has sued the Depart-
ment of Energy again. NPGA will seek to consolidate NERC 2023 Long-Term Reliability Assessment Summary
the two cases along with a third suit on DOE’s Interpre- The North American Electric Reliability Corpo-
tive Rule, in which DOE decided not to have a separate ration (NERC) has recently released its 2023 Long-Term
product class for non-condensing appliances. All three Reliability Assessment. The assessment analyzed the
of these suits focus on whether DOE should have es- North American Bulk Power System (BPS) and assessed
tablished a separate product class for non-condensing future electricity peak demand and energy needs.
appliances under the Energy Policy and Conservation The report includes an evaluation of capacity and risk
Act. NPGA is consulting with outside counsel regularly assessment, risk areas, and changing resource mix and
to provide information and bolster arguments to pro- reliability implications. Different risk levels in various
tect consumer choice and preserve efficient appliances electric grids throughout the nation were also evaluat-
from government overreach and flawed regulations. ed. Both MISO and SERC-Central are listed in the “High
For more information, contact NPGA Director of Regu- Risk Areas,” while NPCC, WECC NW & SW, SPP and ER-
latory Affairs Kate Gaziano. COTT all fall into the “Elevated Risk” category. The grid
areas that are in the “High Risk” category are primarily
COP28: Fossil Fuel Phase-out and Phase-down Language attributed to demand forecasts increasing faster than
Not Approved the transitioning resource mix is able to grow.
At the close of the United Nations Climate The assessment highlights the fact that the
Conference (COP28) on December 14th, delegate from nation is clearly in a “transition” period for its energy
nearly 200 countries (including the U.S.) approved

26 Alabama Propane Gas Association | January / February 2024