SLO may require new homes to be all-electric. Here’s why it makes sense

The city of San Luis Obispo has revived a controversial proposal that would require most new buildings within the city limits to be all-electric, effective Jan. 1, 2023.

That means all home appliances — water heaters, furnaces and yes, stoves — would have to be electric.

Again, this applies only to new construction; nothing in the proposal even hints at requiring owners of existing homes to give up their natural gas appliances.

Also, a few exceptions to the all-electric rule would be allowed.

Commercial kitchens would be eligible for an exemption. So would accessory dwelling units attached to existing homes already hooked up to gas.

Natural gas would also be allowed as backup power for infrastructure that protects public health and safety.

City staff has been working on the proposal for several months. They’ve met with builders, environmental organizations, the Chamber of Commerce and the SLO Climate Coalition, among others.

The public will have a chance to comment on the plan at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

What’s the impetus?

Climate change is the primary reason SLO is once again considering this major step.

While natural gas has the reputation for being a relatively clean fuel, especially compared to coal, that’s not really the case. Recent studies show that it emits more methane than initially estimated.

On top of that, it’s a source of indoor pollution and has been linked to higher rates of childhood asthma.

Also, the city staff report raises concerns about having more gas mains in an area that’s prone to earthquakes.

The City Council first considered banning gas appliances in new homes in 2019.

That generated major push-back, especially from natural gas workers worried about job security. A union leader threatened to bus in “hundreds and hundreds of pissed off people” from the Los Angeles area, “potentially adding to this (coronavirus) pandemic.”

Ultimately, the City Council passed an ordinance aimed at encouraging — rather than requiring — that new buildings be all-electric.

That policy, which expires at the end of 2022, hasn’t been as effective as the city hoped. According to city staff, fewer than half of all new homes built since the ordinance was adopted — 51 out of 121 — are all-electric.

At that rate, the city won’t meet its ambitious goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2035.

Phasing out natural gas

While San Luis Obispo is the first and, as far as we know, only jurisdiction in SLO County to consider requiring all-electric buildings, it’s got plenty of company.

Around 50 California cities — including Los Angeles and Sacramento — already have passed regulations to prohibit natural gas in one or more building sectors.

Also, beginning next year, the California Energy Commission is requiring that all new buildings be “electric-ready,” which means they’ll come equipped with circuits for space heating, water heating, cooking and clothes dryers. On top of that, the California Air Resource Board has released a draft plan that includes the ambitious goal of making 100% of new home appliance sales electric by 2035.

In other words, the writing is very much on the wall; the phase-out of natural gas appliances is looking inevitable, at least in California.

Despite that, SLO’s proposed regulation will no doubt set off another round of debate.

Sure, there are drawbacks — no gas stoves! — along with uncertainties.

That’s why we didn’t support the all-electric policy when it was first purposed.

Adding electric appliances will put more strain on a grid that already has trouble keeping up with demand.

Plus, there’s no guarantee that the electricity powering those new homes would come from clean sources like wind and solar.

And since transportation is the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, wouldn’t it make sense to prioritize electric vehicles over electric appliances?

Yet the transition has to start somewhere, and it’s especially critical for states and cities to step up now that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

And who knows? Increasing pressure on the grid could incentive clean energy production.

Bottom line: If we don’t begin to phase out products and practices harmful to the environment and replace them with better alternatives, we’ll be closing our eyes to the mess we’ve created.

We’ll be putting our comfort and convenience ahead of the welfare of our children and grandchildren.

And we’ll make it incrementally harder to meet climate goals.

The city of San Luis Obispo has been ahead of the curve in the past when it comes to protecting the environment.

It has the opportunity to do so again; we urge the city to join other jurisdictions in California in transitioning to all-electric buildings.