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Building Electrification

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What is Building Electrification?

“Electrifying everything” and powering our lives with clean electricity is an essential way communities can respond to climate chaos (fires, droughts, poor air quality). In our homes and places of work, substituting natural gas appliances with new, highly-efficient electric alternatives effectively reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improves health and safety, and lowers energy costs for residents.  Therefore, the City of Lafayette's Environmental Task Force is considering recommending policies to require newly constructed buildings to be built all-electric and to encourage existing building owners to convert their fossil fuel appliances to electric as well. 

Some of the action items under consideration include the following: 

  • Require all new building construction to be all-electric, with no gas hook ups. 

  • Require certain electric appliances and electrical system upgrades during major remodeling of existing buildings. 

  • Ensure that our citizens and local business owners are supported as we transition our city to meet its future energy needs, and goals toward resiliency.

  • Require an annual review and feedback process to ensure that our citizens’ needs are addressed, and that our city’s goals are being met. 

  • Require that natural gas lines be capped/decommissioned in existing buildings by 2045.

 

Earth Day Webinar on Building Electrification - April 22, 2022

On Earth Day. April 22, the Environmental Task Force 2022 hosted a webinar about how new and existing buildings can help solve the climate crisis. Watch the recorded webinar.

Give Us Your Input - Take the Brief Survey Today!

Take a brief online survey about Building Electrification to share your input with the Task Force. Originally scheduled to close on May 15, 2022, it has been reopened to collect more responses!

As of November 5, 2022, there have been a total of 109 survey respondents, 92% Lafayette residents, 3% Lafayette businesses, and 5% neither.  Of the 50 respondents who watched the webinar, 72% are in favor of adopting a building electrification reach code for Lafayette.  General concerns included the cost of transitioning from gas to electric appliances, PG&E's grid reliability, as well as access to electricity during PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoffs.  The ETF is continually looking for ways to support residents and businesses by providing information on rebates and contractors, as well as improving resilience during times of blackouts.  

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are you trying to take away my gas stove?

No.  Our proposed recommendation does not, in any way, call for going into your home or business and removing any of your gas-powered appliances.  So, if you are using gas for cooking in your home or business, then by all means keep using it!  Our proposed recommendation focuses on new building projects only.  Although, there are many great reasons to switch gas out to induction (e.g. for health, cost savings, or environmental reasons), and PG&E offers an induction loaner cooktop to try out for free if you’re curious and want to try it out first.  PG&E offers free live and recorded classes on cooking with induction as well.

2. Why does the city care what kind of energy I use?

There are many reasons why our cities care about our energy use.  For example:

  • Climate Change:  Buildings are the second biggest source of pollution in Lafayette.  Because our electric grid has become dramatically cleaner in recent years, we can unequivocally state that the best way to decarbonize our buildings is via electrification.
  •  Cost Savings:  PG&E has clearly communicated that the cost of gas will outpace the cost of electricity because their gas delivery system is outdated and overdue for an overhaul. Additionally, while the current cost of electricity is higher than the cost of gas, modern electric technology (e.g. induction cooktops and heat pumps) are far, far more efficient and therefore lower the overall costs of your utility bill. 
  • Health:  The gas delivery system is very leaky! This is true even in new delivery systems, but it’s even more true in an old one like we have. Gas cooktops are especially unhealthy and can lead to poor indoor air quality, releasing carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides which cause smog.  In fact, children in homes with gas cooktops have a 42% increased risk of developing asthma.
  • Transition Easing:  Experts agree that we are in a period of mass transition, and that the market is outpacing our government institutions in making sure that we are prepared.  Think about it this way: when the automobile became popular, it was up to the government to ensure that we had the types of roadways necessary to ease this transition.

3. How can the grid support everything going electric?

PG&E recognizes the value of building electrification as an important tool in meeting California’s climate goals.  PG&E’s primary objectives with building electrification are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and customer costs, while creating a positive customer experience. They are committed to reaching a net zero energy system by 2040 (five years earlier than California’s goal set by SB 100) by leveraging a diverse mix of energy sources, and plan to build the electric grid to be smarter, more dynamic, and more flexible.  But they understand this is also a transition, and no one expects this change to happen overnight.  PG&E is actively collaborating and discussing with the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) and CEC (California Energy Commission) strategies to support state-wide electrification and tactically decommission portions of gas infrastructure within our service area.  

4. What about power shut offs?

Most new gas equipment uses electric ignition and doesn’t work in a power shutoff.  Given that, the reality is that California is suffering from a worsening drought and more intense wildfire season year after year due to a warming climate caused by burning fossil fuels like gas.  PG&E recognizes that PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) events are last resort options in reducing the risk of wildfires, and they have significantly worked at making PSPS events shorter and smaller in geographic area.  To mitigate wildfire risk in the long-term, they are actively undergrounding powerlines and enhancing power safety settings in high fire threat areas.  To increase resilience during shutoffs, they are implementing temporary microgrids in communities that are safe to do so, and plan to integrate vehicle-to-grid capabilities, so that customers may power their homes and communities using the batteries from their EVs.  Property owners can also mitigate their risk of losing power during PSPS events by installing a source of backup power, such as a generator or battery storage.  

5. How can I afford to go all-electric?

It depends on whether you are building anew or retrofitting.  For new building projects and most remodels, electrification offers all-around savings!  It costs less to put in just one energy delivery system, so builders save.  And it costs less to operate modern electric appliances, so the end user saves as well!  Retrofitting, which is not covered in our proposed recommendation, can offer long-term savings, but often has a higher upfront cost.  There are rebates available for many of these types of projects and you can find them at https://www.switchison.org/.  

Resources

Education for homeowners, business owners, property managers:

 Experts in the field:

Questions or Comments? 

E-mail: Senior Planner Nancy Tran at NTran@lovelafayette.org.