For residential use, and that is what Berkeley's ordinance affects, induction cooktops are the way to go. The surface doesn't get hot, the pan does. The only heat on the cooktop is conducted to it from the pan, the opposite of a regular electric cooktop.

Disadvantages: Not all pots work. Cast iron or stainless are OK, but aluminum or copper bottoms are out, so you may have to buy new pots and pans. The heat goes away if you lift the pot off the surface. With early induction cooktops it was difficult to set correct heating. New ones have LEDs that give the same feedback as a gas flame.

Advantages: Really efficient. The only thing that gets hot is the pot and its contents. Fast heating, faster than gas. Infinitely better than the old electric stoves: they use much less power, don't heat the room and are easily controlled.

Ain't modernity wonderful.