Why Trump Is Suing 2 Small California Cities For Something They Are Not Doing

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against Petaluma and Morgan Hill, seeking to block the cities from enforcing natural gas restrictions that federal attorneys argue are a risk to national security and energy dominance.

In a lawsuit filed this week, the administration argues that the cities' limits on natural gas deny consumers access to reliable, affordable energy and undermine national interests by "enacting energy policies that threaten American energy dominance.”

The complaint claims the cities violated a 1975 law that bars local energy-use regulation for products subject to federal standards.

"From the day President Trump took office, his Administration has prioritized cutting energy costs for all Americans, restoring consumer freedom, and unleashing American energy dominance," Justice Department attorneys wrote in the complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

"Ensuring that all Americans have reliable access to affordable energy not only makes good economic sense, it also strengthens national security. Sadly, standing in the way of that progress, many states and localities have enacted energy policies that threaten American energy dominance and our economic and national security."

However, Petaluma and Morgan Hill city officials say the laws were never enacted.

"An unnecessary effort"

Petaluma and Morgan Hill were among about a dozen California cities and counties that pushed for all-electric infrastructure in new construction projects after Berkeley's landmark 2019 move to ban natural gas in most new buildings.

The policy prompted cities nationwide to adopt similar regulations, though it was quickly challenged.

Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, and Sonoma County were among them. In 2019, Morgan Hill banned natural gas infrastructure in newly constructed buildings. In 2021, Petaluma city officials adopted an ordinance doing the same. Napa County approved a building code that encourages all-electric new homes, though city officials stopped short of a ban, according to The Press Democrat.

In the meantime, a restaurant trade group successfully challenged Berkeley's ordinance, stalling the legislation aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

A Ninth Circuit panel ruled these bans exceeded the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which sets national standards for how appliances use energy. The appeal decision also expanded the scope of the act, ruling that it encompasses building codes that regulate natural gas use, according to reports.

Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Cruz moved to fully repeal or suspend their gas bans following the Berkeley decision, KQED reported.

Likewise, Morgan Hill and Petaluma had not enforced the regulations. City officials in both Petaluma and Morgan Hill were surprised by the lawsuit.

Morgan Hill City Attorney Donald Larkin said the city follows federal law, describing the lawsuit as unnecessary.

The City has not denied any permits for gas infrastructure based on the 2019 ordinance since the courts struck down Berkeley’s similar ordinance, Larkin said.

"In fact, the City has approved projects with gas infrastructure," he said in a statement.

"While we are still reviewing the complaint, this lawsuit appears to be an unnecessary effort to require the City to follow laws with which the City is already in compliance.”

Petaluma City Attorney Eric Danly said in a statement that Petaluma has not enforced its regulations for new construction since they were enacted in May 2021.

The city has not denied any project or permit application based on its electrification regulations, Danly said in a statement. Developers have generally opted to install electric utilities voluntarily, he said.

City officials are reviewing the complaint, Danly said. But, so far, he said the lawsuit appears to be "an unnecessary effort to seek to compel the City to comply with federal law with which it already complies."

Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General did not respond directly to a request for comment.

But the problem appears to be ordinances that remain on the books. According to a news report, Morgan Hill officials decided to allow the ordinance to remain. And Petaluma kept pages citing an "all-electric code," which were included in the complaint, on the city website until this week.