В Миннесоте призывают усилить информирование арендаторов о рисках газовых плит и доступности электрических аналогов

Last year, I moved into a rented studio apartment with a gas stove. I noticed the knobs on the stove were loose and just a small tap could release gas. One day, I came home from work, and my entire apartment smelled like gas. I rushed to tighten the loose gas stove knob, opened windows and turned on fans. I could feel the gas irritating my throat and lungs. Even though my background is in health education, I hadn’t thought a lot about the health impacts of my stove’s gas emissions until that moment. If I didn’t know, imagine who else doesn’t have access to that information or the ability to better protect themselves and their loved ones. Even without a leak, the facts about gas stoves and the harms to our health are concerning. Carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide from gas cooking are often highly concentrated in apartments, due to their smaller square footage. A 2025 study found that benzene produced by cooking with natural gas can increase childhood cancer risks by four to 16 times. Related: As Minnesota digs out from damage of the federal ICE attack, renters are still feeling the pain A 2022 study determined that 12.7% of childhood asthma cases in the U.S. can be attributed to cooking with natural gas, and a study published last month found that replacing a gas stove with electric yielded around twice the improvement in asthma scores, compared to routine clinical asthma treatment. Alarmingly, indoor air emissions linger in small apartments, but are invisible, so the emissions go largely unnoticed by tenants and show up as chronic health conditions later in life. With nearly one in three Minnesotans renting, it’s imperative that gas cooking alternatives, such as electric or induction cooking methods, be made more widely available and accessible to renters. Recently, Xcel Energy included electric oven and induction stove rebates in its 2027–2029 Energy Conservation and Optimization (ECO) plan, which undergoes a public agency review process every three years. That’s a step in the right direction. Yet, as my story as a renter and public health professional illustrates, the mere existence of these programs isn’t enough. Utility companies and the state regulatory agencies that review the ECO plans need to ensure ample investments in strategies that increase awareness among utility customers, particularly landlords, about the support available to switch away from gas cooking methods. Community Voices: Minnesota PUC decision reflects practical progress in energy policy Fortunately, this fall, the Minnesota Department of Commerce has an opportunity to provide stronger support for this education in their review of utility providers’ proposed ECO plans. As a renter concerned about my own health and as a public health professional concerned about others’ health, I urge the department to propose that utility companies, like Xcel Energy, allocate additional funding to increase public awareness of their rebate programs. This would benefit utility providers, who want people to fully utilize their programs, and residential electric customers like me, whose health would be better protected. Utility companies like Xcel are taking steps to protect renters’ health from gas emissions, and that’s worth celebrating. However, utility companies can and should do more to make sure that utility customers can understand and access the options available to them. This is also the state’s job — because hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans’ health depends on it. Madeleine Moe is a public health professional, a certified health education specialist and a volunteer with Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit.