New legislation introduced Tuesday would help D.C. residents get rid of their gas stoves in favor of electric ones.

Introduced by Council Member Charles Allen, the Healthy Homes and Residential Electrification Amendment Act of 2023 will use funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to help lower-income households install electric stoves with no out-of-pocket cost. 

Under the new bill, households making less than $80,000 a year will be able to get a new stove installed for them. The bill would also prohibit the District of Columbia Housing Authority from installing gas stoves and heating systems when renovating public housing. 

The move to shift the district away from gas-burning stoves comes after reports that fossil fuel-powered stoves can release dangerous chemicals, making the air worse to breathe. Climate activists have jumped on the issue, with the Sierra Club’s  D.C. chapter working with Mr. Allen on the bill. 

“If the District is going to hit its own goals for reducing carbon emissions and mitigate the worst-case scenarios for climate change, completing the switch away from natural gas must happen at the household level very quickly,” a statement from Mr. Allen read. 

The legislation comes during a heated nationwide debate over gas stoves, with the issue being divided mostly across party lines. 

Once word got out that the Biden administration was considering banning or limiting gas stoves, Republican lawmakers quickly drafted legislation to block a ban. Conservatives have said a ban on gas stoves would seriously limit consumer choice and is extreme government overreach. 

“They always go back — and you can remember from COVID and everything else —  they’ll say there’s some kind of science behind it that justifies it. There’s no valid, legitimate science that proves that or that suggests that this type of cooking is any more hazardous than any other type of cooking, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson told Newsmax last month.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.