The city of Berkeley last month became the first in the nation to completely ban natural gas in newly constructed buildings.
Now, officials in Menlo Park are exploring a similar, if modified ban that would require all new retail, office and industrial buildings, as well as high-rise residences to run entirely on electricity.
Residents of new single-family homes would have to use heat those electricty. But those who prefer using gas appliances, including stoves, fireplaces and clothes dryers, would still have that option.
Menlo Park's Sustainability Manager Rebecca Lucky told KCBS Radio that those residents just need to be willing to pay the price.
"The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions using natural gas comes from water heating and space heating. If consumers or property owners or building owners want to still use natural gas for cooking they certainly can. They'll just have to pay a premium for that, but they can still have their consumer preference rather than saying you have to be all electric," she said.
The new rules would go a long way toward lowering local greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, there are 20 buildings in the city's construction pipeline, including multi-family dwellings, office, retail and hotel space.
"If these buildings use natural gas that would essentially result in 213,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the buildings," a range of 30 to 50 years, Lucky said.
The Menlo Park City Council is expected to consider the phase-out at its meeting Tuesday.
Critics of the plan say this is the kind of regulation that needs to be coordinated at the state level.
But that's not stopping other Bay Area cities, including Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Burlingame, from also considering tightening up regulations surrounding the use of natural gas.