By Roza Chibukhchyan
The Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down I-2066 allows the state to continue its push toward electrification. For homeowners, this means that natural gas can still be provided by utility companies upon request. However, incentives for going electric remain in place, and cities and counties can make rules to discourage or even ban the use of natural gas over time.
On Sept. 17th the court overruled I-2066, a natural gas access initiative that was approved by nearly two million voters back in 2024. The court did not rule on natural gas access itself; rather, it claimed the initiative was void due to how it was written. The coalition of environmental nonprofits that sued the initiative successfully argued it violated the single-subject rule, meaning it bundled together multiple topics, which the court deemed unconstitutional.
“It is on a technicality. What we want people to understand is the issue wasn’t whether people should have natural gas. What was at issue is this single-subject rule,” says Liam Payne, a representative of the Spokane Homebuilders Association (SHBA).
Payne argues there was no confusion, and people knew what they were voting for.
With this ruling, people hoping to rebuild after the Spokane area wildfires may wonder if they’ll be able to install natural gas if they had it before.
“This ruling does not affect the ability to install new natural gas appliances, for example, or to set up natural gas access at someone’s home that they’re building anew,” says Kai Smith, a Pacifica Law Group partner, which represented the suing coalition in court.
Avista wrote in a statement, “a customer may still reconnect natural gas service when rebuilding. The decision removes the voter-approved mandate; it doesn’t prohibit us from providing service.”
The Sierra Club also cheered the court’s decision.
“We feel like it was a big win for people who care about clean air, for people who care about lowering their electricity bill and for people who care about the climate,” says Sierra Club Washington Director Ben Avery.
If gas access isn’t changing in a significant way, why do the plaintiffs consider the decision a win?
Both Avery and Smith mention the incentivization programs that I-2066 would have banned had it not been overruled. “It does open up a lot of financial assistance in particular for low-income Washingtonians should they want to do energy upgrades in their home,” says Avery.
SHBA, on the other hand, says building new homes could cost from $40,000 to $80,000 more for all-electric infrastructure.
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