Eric Fournier in The Los Angeles Times: Should California ban gas in new homes? A climate battle heats up

UCLA researchers published a study last month concluding that Californians would probably pay more for energy under electrification mandates, and that “low-income residents of disadvantaged communities … will be most adversely affected.  But the study didn’t argue against electrification policies. Rather, it called for financial incentives to help low-income households buy electric appliances and for strategies to help avoid skyrocketing evening electricity demand.

“We believe in electrification,” said Eric Fournier, research director at UCLA’s California Center for Sustainable Communities and the study’s lead author. “We just want to make sure there are no surprises, particularly when you’re pitching it to low-income communities where they’re spending a large proportion of their income on energy.”