Mandating Grid Dependency

California has gone far beyond merely encouraging residents to abandon gasoline and natural gas in favor of electricity. In time, it aims to make state residents solely dependent on the electrical grid.

Jim Cardoza | September 24, 2026

California has gone far beyond merely encouraging residents to abandon gasoline and natural gas in favor of electricity. In time, it aims to make state residents solely dependent on the electrical grid.

The state adopted rules that require new passenger vehicles sold by 2035 to be zero-emission vehicles, essentially banning the sale of new gas-powered cars. In the meantime, politicians have also offered subsidies and incentives to make electric vehicles more attractive while imposing increasingly burdensome regulations on their existing gasoline-powered competitors.

California has pursued a similar strategy inside the home. Building codes promote electrification; government programs subsidize electric heat pumps, water heaters, and induction cooking; and regulators have pursued zero-emission standards for new space and water-heating equipment. Some local governments have gone further by restricting natural gas equipment in new construction.

In other words, Sacramento’s strategy combines subsidies for the preferred technology, regulations against its competitors, and mandates seeking to shift Californians from gasoline and natural gas toward electricity -- even while Californians already pay some of America’s highest electricity rates.

California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office has noted that residential electricity rates are roughly twice those elsewhere in the country. From 2019 through 2023, average California residential electricity rates increased about 47 percent, compared with an increase of roughly 18 percent in overall consumer prices. The state’s costly greenhouse gas policies rank among the primary reasons.

There seems to be something incoherent about making electricity exceptionally expensive while simultaneously requiring citizens to use more of it.

California’s building requirements add another........

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