Gas Stoves less common than Electric in rentals? (Portland, Astoria: apartments, transporting)

[DrexlerMcStyles]

OK, this probably seems like an oddball question but my wife does alot of cooking and we're used to cooking on Gas ranges. In our online search for apartments it seems that most places have Electric ranges. Are we not likely to find many places with Gas Stoves in Portland? Electric ranges kind of suck which is why I ask. Anyone who does a fair amount of gourmet cooking knows what I'm talking about. I know it seems like an odd question but I was just hoping someone might be able to shine a little light?

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by DrexlerMcStyles

OK, this probably seems like an oddball question but my wife does alot of cooking and we're used to cooking on Gas ranges. In our online search for apartments it seems that most places have Electric ranges. Are we not likely to find many places with Gas Stoves in Portland? Electric ranges kind of suck which is why I ask. Anyone who does a fair amount of gourmet cooking knows what I'm talking about. I know it seems like an odd question but I was just hoping someone might be able to shine a little light?

Electricity is (well, WAS) cheap in the NW, so it's far more common, especially in older homes/rentals. Heck, in the 60s and early 70s, electric ceiling heat, the stupidest, most wasteful idea in home heating ever, was common.

Gas would be more common in newer, upscale rentals. I've even seen a few in the Pearl with all-induction.

[philwithbeard]

PNW-type-gal:

Isn't there some long drawn out news story about a lack of NG pipeline supplies? And to boost the NG available to NW Oregon, they want to build a port - docking facility on the Columbia river to import Liquid NG by ocean shipping to feed the NG pipelines? The news stories seem to indicate a less than ideal supply of NG, if NG is to become competitive and reliable like Electric energy for household use.

one line to a newspaper article: Oregon LNG wins two battles over Port of Astoria lease | Oregon Business News - OregonLive.com

I think I read where this battle for a LNG docking port has been going on for about 10 years or so.

(I guess, or presume, this LNG is loaded onto ships up in Alaska, and there is some major problem of why a trans-Alaska pipeline to Oregon cannot be built. It must be a very good reason if the extreme danger of cooling the NG to liquid stage for loading onto ships and then transporting the LNG along the North Pacific coast (even in winter!) is the better idea.)

Phil

[PNW-type-gal]

That's part of it, but a huge chunk of the story is that electricity was so cheap it wasn't worth the trouble to bring in gas. The average national rate is something like 11 cents per kWh and here's it around 7, up from below 5 cents per kWh prior to the big west coast power price increase in the early 2000s (after the California electricity dergulation).

[DrexlerMcStyles]

Well, maybe we'll still get lucky and find a place with gas. Thanks for the explanation

[Dom1964]

Originally Posted by DrexlerMcStyles

Well, maybe we'll still get lucky and find a place with gas. Thanks for the explanation

Good Luck with that...

I also hate cooking on electric stove, and have been apartment hunting the past month. I didnt find a single place with a gas stove.