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HEALTH
● For decades, California has been battling poor air quality. Transitioning off of gas will not only limit toxic emissions and major sources of harmful chemicals, it will cut the amount of pollutants that people breath indoors - protecting everyone in their homes.
● Burning gas in home appliances like furnaces, hot water heaters and stoves produces toxic pollutants that are bad for our health.
● We burn as much gas in our homes and buildings as we do in our power plants, but our power plants have pollution controls - our homes do not, leaving us vulnerable to dangerous air pollution and health impacts.
POLLUTION
● The fossil fuels we burn in our homes have worse climate impact than coal due to the leakage caused from fracking and transportation of fossil fuel gas.
● In California, buildings account for 25 percent of our total emissions - second only to transportation as the leading source of climate pollution.
● We burn as much gas in our homes and buildings as we do in our power plants.
● To solve this problem, California must transition to all-electric, zero-emission appliances as quickly as possible.
● More than 50 local jurisdictions are considering building codes and ordinances designed to facilitate the transition off of gas appliances to all-electric clean energy homes and buildings.
COSTS
● Using gas in your home and workplace is getting more expensive - SoCalGas has proposed rate increases that will raise the price of gas 45 percent over the next three years - causing utility bills to spike.
● And it won’t end there, new research shows gas rates escalating for residential customers for decades to come in California.
● Electrification can help to shield customers - especially lower-income communities - from the volatile prices of fossil fuels.
● Homeowners and developers can save between $130 – $540 per year for all-electric new construction compared to homes that burn gas.
● Developers can build more quickly and affordably by avoiding gas hookups - which lowers the price of the home while also providing long-term energy savings to the homeowner.
QUOTES
“Every home or building that’s built using natural gas for heating deepens our challenge, further digging us into a climate hole we will eventually need to climb out of. Luckily, the alternatives are here and at cost with natural gas appliances.” - Panama Bartholomy, Building Decarbonization Coalition
“New all-electric buildings that can efficiently powered by clean energy is an essential step to improving housing affordability, clean air, safety, and climate resiliency. Cities across California are leading a clean energy movement that will transform our communities and inspire the state to take action in line with climate science.” - Rachel Golden, Sierra Club
FURTHER INFORMATION
Find out how and why California’s cities are moving to cleaner, safer buildings via decarbonization and efficiency: Download the Journalist’s Guide to Building Electrification in California.
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