This is what I’m thinking of doing when it comes to the water heater. Had it replaced five or six years ago, so it’ll probably last another six or seven years. My concern is lots of others will be doing the same thing, so the prices will jump as panic-driven demand goes up - like toilet paper at the start of Covid. I’m not too worried about my gas furnace, as it was replaced just a few years and and will probably outlast me. My old one was 60 years old, and I only need to turn it on about 20 nights a year.
I wouldn’t be so angry if they stretched the mandate out to 10 years. The issue with having such a short time before gas water heaters and furnaces stop being sold is that it will result in supply vs demand mismatches that will drive the price of those items up, as well as the cost for upgrading electrical systems. Almost every electrician I’ve seen commenting on this said there’s a shortage of electricians who can upgrade systems, so people will be waiting a long time to get electrical upgrades. Shortages of electricians also means higher prices for their services. They also say that PG&E’s electrical infrastructure in a lot of neighborhoods can’t handle the increased electricity use, and realistically PG&E won’t be able to upgrade those areas by the time it’s needed.
My guess is this same kind of ban will happen throughout the state. The people who passed the rule were saying outright that the Bay Area is merely the first area of the state doing this.