It all began in California. In 2019, the city of Berkeley enacted the first city-wide ban on new natural gas hookups in residential buildings. The aim was to reduce emissions and accelerate the energy transition. Now, more cities are thinking of doing the same thing. State authorities, however, are not having it. Several major cities, including Denver, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco, have either followed in Berkeley’s footsteps or have plans in place to do it, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week. The governments of the states they are in, in turn, have struck back with legislation banning such prohibitions. For the proponents of gas bans, the benefits are clear, or rather, the benefit: lower emissions . For the opponents, there are too many disadvantages, from the cost of switching a house from gas to electricity to the effect of more all-electric households on the grid. […]