More North Bay governments consider banning natural gas in new construction

As the Marin County grand jury leans into a world where greenhouse gas reduction goals are met by banning natural gas use in new building construction , some building trade groups say the idea doesn’t meet the real-world test.

“A major issue is power backup in the event of outages,” said Craig Lawson, immediate past president of CAL Custom Building Services Inc. “If electricity is the only future source, what happens when it fails during rolling blackouts or due to other causes for long periods of time. Even with solar battery storage systems, the average length of time backup power is available is around two days. The goal of having net zero emissions will never be (met) 100%, in my opinion.”

He added the call for any recommended or mandated all-electric building code “comes at a time when the state is working with an antiquated grid that depends on natural gas for almost half of its power generation.”

As the Journal reported, the Marin County civil grand jury on June 6 recommended reducing climate changing greenhouse gases by eliminating natural gas as an energy source for new building construction, along with the replacement of gas appliances and equipment within existing structures when outdated or nonfunctioning.

The 2022 California Building Standards Code (Title 24), detailing the path toward electrifying the state, was published July 1. This building code update will become effective Jan. 1, 2023, meaning that all new residential and commercial buildings must be built electric-ready.

In the interim, local jurisdictions have been meeting for months to review model building codes and decide whether to adopt more restrictive “reach codes” and take actions, such as banning the use of natural gas in newly constructed buildings.

Reach codes are local building ordinances that can take effect within the state building code’s three-year revision cycle. They must be cost-effective, as stringent as the statewide code, approved by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and re-approved when the California energy code is updated, or they will expire.

Other questions raised by the Marin civil grand jury include the best way to take the all-electric concept into existing homes and those undergoing renovations and to large multi-unit residential buildings.

The report asks, “Can consumers be incentivized to voluntarily replace gas-fueled appliances with electric ones?”

Currently, more than 50 local jurisdictions throughout California have adopted codes that reach beyond state minimum requirements for energy use in building design and construction. Some jurisdictions in the North Bay have moved to ban natural gas, though in some cities, like Windsor and Santa Rosa, that triggered lawsuits.

So far within Marin County, Fairfax is the only city to have adopted an all-electric requirement for new buildings. Within Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, 20 cities have adopted their own building electrification reach codes.

‘Must be prepared and become more resilient’

In Sonoma County, Supervisor Susan Gorin said, “During the fires, we lost some 6,000 homes and when rebuilding we must embrace renewable energy using the latest technologies and by building all-electric homes. With regards to electric shutdowns, everyone is concerned about saving energy and having a consistent supply. We must be prepared and become more resilient.”

She said the county has not yet decided to establish reach codes, and even if it did, implementation would take time.

“We must be realistic by not requiring every home or car to be all-electric to address climate change,” Gorin said.

Tanya Narath, director of climate programs for the Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA) in Sonoma County, said the organization is looking at costs and time frames, along with environmental justice and equity issues.

“We’re mobilizing climate protection efforts with the goal of how to make the transition to increasing energy efficiency by sealing the home envelope by weather proofing, etc., while also collaborating with an ad-hoc group studying ways to raise funds for climate efforts,” Narath said.

She said Healdsburg and Santa Rosa have all-electric reach codes, but Healdsburg has two exemptions (see the sidebar with this story). Petaluma is updating its own municipal code to ban gas in new construction.

Windsor’s all-electric reach code was reversed due to the possibility of litigation, and Sebastopol’s Climate Action Committee is evaluating whether to establish such a code.

The cities of Sonoma, Cotati, Cloverdale and Rohnert Park have not announced new local building ordinances to date.

Matt Brown, communications specialist with the Sonoma County Administrator’s Office, said the county is focusing on promoting micro-grids.

“Currently, the Sonoma County Emergency Independence Program provides financing that can help fund the installation of micro-grids and certain energy-efficiency programs,” Brown said. “In addition, the county’s Energy and Sustainability Division makes incentives available for appliance efficiency upgrades, and Sonoma Clean Power has launched promotions to offset costs associated with switching to all-electric appliances.”

Napa County takes a regional approach

Deborah Elliott, Napa County environmental resource specialist and sustainability planner, said the focus is on climate action for the entire county, and that no local jurisdictions — to her knowledge — are making building code changes at this time.

“In early spring, we reached out to planning directors and met with them monthly to discuss this issue. For now, our jurisdictions are working together with the Climate Action Committee to develop a plan for moving forward.”

Marin is cautioned about ‘creating a ban without a plan’

In March 2021, the Marin Builders Association board of directors issued a policy statement saying that “a ban on natural gas to residences will increase construction costs, decrease consumer choice, reduce energy availability for homeowners during Public Safety Power Shutoff periods, potentially cause unforeseen impacts to the electrical grid, increase energy costs for homeowners, and have minimal impact on the overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”

The association’s policy stated, “Creating a ban without a plan is not effective or fair policy development.”

However, the association “supports the development of credits, incentives and rebates to encourage less reliance on natural gas. Homeowners will make changes only if they are financially motivated and there is viable consumer choice.”

The trade group’s board of directors said the implementation of a code change that eliminates natural gas would increase costs from project development to end-users.

“We suggest any governing body interested in adopting a ban on the use of natural gas first create a committee of environmental experts, impacted homeowners, and building professionals to explore the true impacts of such policy as well as a plan with viable solutions, staging the eventual phasing-out of natural gas over a defined period of time,” the policy stated.

Concern about the cost of affordable housing

Lisa Wittke Schaffner, CEO of the North Coast Builders Exchange, with over 900 members, pointed to limitations of the Marin report.

“Civil grand juries do not set policy, they just make recommendations that can help shape the political will of California’s counties, cities and towns,” said the leader of the trade group. “Before jurisdictions do anything, an assessment should be made of the fiscal impact of a natural gas ban on building affordable homes where margins for builders are not big.”

She noted that analysis should consider that new homes are built to be more energy efficient and how appliances are actually used.

”Such assessments should determine how many minutes a day hot water heaters or stovetop gas burners are in use,” Wittke Schaffner said.

Wittke Schaffner said she was opposed to some aspects of the ban proposed in her home city of Healdsburg when the city council in February was considering a reach code that would ban gas cooktops, pool heaters and fireplaces. She advocates for setting goals that incentivize homeowners to obtain energy-efficient appliances.

“Healdsburg Mayor Osvaldo Jimenez was also concerned about limiting residents’ energy sources during power outages or wildfires,” Wittke Schaffner said.

Terry Crowley, Healdsburg utility director, said his city’s reach code will be updated in August and will include cost-effectiveness studies.

“Healdsburg has an advantage over other cities with its own electric power facility with rates 50% less than PG&E’s,” Crowley said. “During the major fires, Healdsburg lost both electric and natural gas services. Our reach code does not cover existing space and home EV-charging requirements.”

The cost of new homes after gas bans could be an issue, according to Mike Behler, president of Behler Construction Company and board chair of the builders exchange. He owns a vacation home with a gas water heater and a backup generator fueled by propane.

“It is definitely not cheaper to build all-electric homes,” Behler said. “Many people prefer to work with gas. Those proposing or adopting reach codes are over-reaching, in my view.”