After a late-night marathon meeting in January, the Santa Barbara City Council unanimously directed staff to craft an all-electric new building code despite a misinformation campaign to derail it by a SoCalGas front group.
The vote directs staff to conduct workshops and craft appropriate code language. The council will vote on it later this winter.
Our Los Padres Chapter was fully behind the move and members lobbied hard for it. We were part of the 45 organizations which supported it.
It was past 8pm when staff presented a 50-slide PowerPoint detailing the cost-effectiveness, health and climate benefits of a new “Reach Code,” which allows local jurisdictions to increase state standards.
During public comment, proponents of all-electric new buildings outnumbered opponents 31 to 5. Speaking in favor were architects, builders, climate groups, affordable housing experts and homeowners. They noted it would cut climate pollution, improve air quality in homes, and lower building costs by phasing out costlier gas infrastructure in new construction.
City staff, council members and public speakers criticized a misinformation campaign launched by a SoCalGas front group called Californian for Balanced Energy Solutions or C4BES, which launched a spam text campaign in the weeks before the hearing, targeting thousands of Santa Barbara residents. It attempted to confuse existing buildings, which are not affected, with new building that would be affected.
Policy experts are questioning where the group obtained personal data of Santa Barbara residents, and the California Public Advocates Office has requested answers on this issue from SoCalGas directly.
More than 40 California cities already have all-electric building codes on the books. Building homes with electric appliances—which can run on 100% renewable energy—is healthier, safer, and more affordable. Santa Barbara plans to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030 and updating the building code to reduce gas reliance is part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
Highlights from the letter sent from the coalition include:
~ Health: “All-electric will improve indoor air quality, the combustion of gas inside our homes produces harmful indoor air pollution … which exceed EPA’s definition of clean air (according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) i.e. air pollution levels indoors would be illegal if found outdoors. One study found that gas stoves may be responsible for up to 12 percent of childhood asthma cases.”
~ Affordability: “All-electric homes can be cheaper to build, with no need for new costly gas infrastructure … and can lower monthly utility bills for residents and businesses.”
~ Climate Change: “California is experiencing an increasing occurrence of extreme heat waves ... and many residents, particularly low-income families, do not have air conditioning posing new health and safety risks. Air conditioning is an important bonus from replacing gas furnaces with electric heat pump space heaters, as the heat pumps can operate in reverse and provide high efficiency cooling when needed. Electrification offers greater comfort, safety, and climate resiliency when temperatures peak and shifting to electric power dramatically lowers greenhouse gas emissions.”
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