What a gas stove ban means for restaurants
Wow. So much bullshit. Where do I start. Most importantly, the motion only bans gas appliances in new construction. Now think about this and re-read the article with this important fact in mind, and you will discover that nothing in the article is actually the least bit relevant for the proposed ordinance. Everything they talk about refers to existing restaurants in existing buildings, which will not be affected by the ordinance.<p>Even in todays time of massive construction the percentage of actual new buildings is incredibly small. This is a necessary result from the high cost of construction. I am trying to remember if I ever stepped in a genuinely newly built (i.e., less than a year old) building this year, and I cannot. And I live in a city with massive construction and cranes everywhere.<p>In a city like LA, where most of the area is already built up, there is are so many existing buildings, that it will be many decades before anyone has any difficulty finding a fire grilled meal.<p>Now about cost. They talk about how expensive it will be to rip out all the gas stoves and put in electric. Again completely irrelevant. If you already have gas stoves, then you are in an existing building, then you will not be affected by the proposed ordinance. The theory about how there will be a glut of used gas stoves on the market is equally stupid.<p>The part where a restaurant owner compares his gas bill to his electric bill is especially dumb. What does that have to do with anything? He has no electric stoves, his electric bill is mostly for air-conditioning, lighting and ventilation. (Ironically a lot of it I am sure goes for air-conditioning to remove the heat from his kitchen and ventilation to remove the smoke from his gas appliances.)<p>What the article does not say is that if you stick to the actual proposed ordinance, everyone&#x27;s costs will go down significantly. When you are talking about new buildings, avoiding the need to build the gas infrastructure results in significant savings and so does skipping all the chimneys, vents and fans needed to remove the smoke from the kitchens. Gas pipes are much more expensive to build than electrical wires, considering they have to move gas under pressure and ensure there are no leaks.<p>Furthermore, if this ordinance is passed, it will result in savings not only for the developers of new buildings but for all people with gas hookups. This is because the way things currently stand, all gas company customers pay for any new capital outlays of the gas company. Thus, when the gas company has to put in a pipe to feed a new building they charge all their existing customers for that, and include a nice profit margin in their charges. Well, with this new ordinance these charges will be avoided. By the way, this is why the gas company is paying for articles like this.<p>Regarding quality of food, all of the issues are solvable. You can make an electric wok to heat up fast. If you absolutely need a gush of hot gasses, you can create that with electricity and heat pumps. If you need the smoky smell of barbecue and grill you can achieve that by heating up wood chips with electricity while controlling their temperature without combusting them. This will actually smell and taste better. Gas smoke is not pleasant at all. The pleasant smoky smells and tastes come from chemicals in the wood that evaporate without combustion. Thus, for example, wine that has been casked in wooden barrels is often said to have a pleasant smoky smell, even if the barrels are not actually burned.<p>All of this is possible and it will be created once there is demand. But there has to be some demand, or at least a promise of demand. And to create initial demand in new buildings, where you are actually making significant savings by not hooking up gas at all, is just an easy slam dunk decision.