Revealed: US utility firms offer builders cash and trips to fit new homes with gas appliances

Utilities give rewards to house builders to install and promote gas appliances in homes - and enlist celebrity chefs to extoll the fossil fuel

Dozens of US gas utilities, serving more than 35 million customers, offer builders and contractors incentives to keep fossil fuels in buildings, the Guardian has found.

Washington state's NW Natural offers builders $2,000 for each new single-family home they equip with gas appliances, while Texas's Corpus Christi Gas offers $1,000. And in Minnesota, CenterPoint Energy participates in a program that offers paid vacations to builders who outfit homes with gas.