There’s a power play afoot in Bend. It’s electricity versus natural gas.

Electrify everything is the mantra for many concerned about the climate. And the city of Bend is in the middle of looking into what it might do to move Bend toward more electrification.

Will the policies hit like a bolt, a jolt or a pleasant tingling?

The city hired a consultant to look at options. The public might get its first look at options under consideration at a city Environment and Climate Committee meeting on Oct. 10. Then there will be stakeholder interviews, including with utilities. And after that, councilors might be reviewing a recommendation in December.

The city’s climate committee gave direction and suggestions to the consultant firm on Wednesday. Of course, it would be wrong to assume what was discussed will be what councilors consider. It would also be wrong to ignore it, whether you are charged up about this issue or not so excited.

They called for mandatory programs and changes, not just voluntary incentives or education.

They called for rules not only for new buildings but for existing buildings.

There was some acknowledgement that any rules may be less restrictive for existing buildings, because it can be more complicated and expensive to make changes.

Many of the concepts come down to providing hurdles and fees for use of natural gas and encouraging non-gas hook ups. There was mention of exploring a new carbon pollution fee. There was mention of outright restrictions on new connections to gas.

There was also a look at what is going on in California. Several regulatory entities in that state have created new regulations for nitrogen oxide emissions. Nitrogen oxide comes primarily from burning fuels. The gas is poisonous and there’s nothing really new about regulating it. Using it as an overt tool to give electrification a boost is newer.

And there was a lot of discussion about looking at what other states and governments have done to make adopting or switching to things, such as an electric heat pump, as frictionless and low cost as possible.

Equity concerns are going to be a part of this discussion. It will take money, perhaps from a new fee, to ensure people with lower incomes are able to electrify just as easily as anyone else.

Councilor Anthony Broadman, who we saw at CityFest Thursday, said he didn’t want to put “his fingers on the scale” and indicate how he would like the policy to take shape. He doesn’t know, yet. After all, that’s why councilors set up a process to gather feedback from the community.

Bend will not hit electrification of everything any time soon. But we have to expect a new city of Bend policy will aim to encourage electrification of a lot more things soon. And there may be a legal fight with natural gas companies over this power play.

It’s early, but if you have thoughts about any new regulations and electrification why not tell us in a letter to the editor or send them along to councilors at council@bendoregon.gov.