Washington’s natural gas initiative wins, but court challenges could be next

Builders and contractors in Washington are celebrating the passage of Initiative 2066, calling it a victory for “energy choice.”

Meanwhile, opponents of the measure say it will make it harder to achieve Washington’s clean energy goals, and they may sue to block it.

Initiative 2066 rolls back government efforts to transition away from natural gas in the coming decades. It would also block Washington’s building code from doing anything to “prohibit, penalize, or discourage the use of gas for any form of heating.”

RELATED: Energy foes spar with misleading claims over natural gas Initiative 2066

As of Friday it was receiving 51.5% of the vote statewide while 48.5% were voting against it. The Building Industry Association of Washington, which backed the initiative, claimed victory Thursday.

“Given the voting trends both on election night and these past two days, it’s clear that Initiative 2066 has been approved by Washington voters," Executive Vice President Greg Lane said in a statement. “And their message couldn’t be more clear: Washington families and businesses support keeping natural gas service and they demand to have energy choice.”

Zachary Pullin with Washington Conservation Action helped campaign against the initiative.

He said the initiative qualified in July, months after the other ballot measures, which gave little time to campaign.

Polls suggest “people were moving in the direction of voting no,” he said.

“I just think we did not have enough time to get in front of people because the initiative was put on the ballot so late,” Pullin said.

Pullin said the fact that 5% of voters left the initiative completely blank suggests people needed more information.

RELATED: The natural gas initiative I-2066, explained

He said opponents may challenge the initiative in court.

“Because the language is overly broad in the initiative, it’s likely to really sow confusion for municipalities and builders and affordability advocates,” he said.

About a third of homes in Washington state rely on natural gas. It's responsible for at least 20% of Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the state’s latest inventory, from 2019.

This is the only statewide initiative to pass, out of four that were backed by Republicans and the group Let’s Go Washington.

RELATED: Most of his initiatives failed, but Washington Republicans still call him a winner

KUOW environment reporter John Ryan contributed to this report.