San Rafael to require new construction to be all-electric

San Rafael is poised to join a growing list of Marin cities requiring new residential and commercial construction be all-electric.

The City Council voted 5-0 to approve the ordinance on a first reading. Final approval is set for the council's Dec. 5 meeting, mandating the change effective Jan. 4.

The council voted to support the ordinance at its Nov. 21 meeting.

"The majority of our emissions are transportation," accounting for 66% of total emissions in 2020, said Cory Bytof, the city's sustainability coordinator.

"The second largest source of our emissions are our building sector, (at 24%) and the majority of those are natural gas," he said.

The ordinance, referred to as a "green building reach code," is designed to reduce those emissions up to about 11%, he said.

That objective aligns with the city's goal to reduce the city's carbon footprint 40% by 2040.

The new ordinance would apply to all new residential and commercial construction, including detached accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units, with a few exceptions. Building permit applications filed with the city prior to the Jan. 4 effective date would not be subject to the change.

Accessory dwelling units or junior units, also known as ADUs or JADUs, attached to an existing home equipped with gas will be allowed to continue use.

Certain food service establishments, commercial laundry businesses and those who show hardship are also allowed exemptions.

The ordinance puts a cap on the expansion of gas uses at existing residences. For example, a home with a gas line cannot build out new gas features, such as barbecue grills or fire pits.

There are electric vehicle charging facility requirements also. Single-family homes will be required to be "level 2-ready," meaning they would have the capacity, wiring and equipment for electric vehicle charging.

The city is requiring that 85% of units in multifamily developments have access to lower-power level 2 electric vehicle receptacles that a car's charging cable can plug into. The other 15% would have to have chargers.

Commercial buildings will have to provide parking with 35% of stalls featuring receptacles, 10% offering chargers and another 10% required to be level 2-ready.

The county's Community Development Agency is working with Marin cities and towns in an effort to get them to develop similar policies. In Marin, Fairfax, San Anselmo, the county and Corte Madera have approved similar ordinances.

MCE, Marin County's clean energy provider, and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. supported the ordinance.

MCE is expanding its battery storage capability to harvest solar power to be distributed during peak hours, a move to improve the reliability on the energy grid, said Sebastian Conn, community development manager for the energy provider.

"Electrifying the building sector will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions supporting MCE's mission to confront the climate crisis," said Sebastian Conn, community development manager for the energy provider.

The community also supported the ordinance.

"Requiring that new buildings are electric and EV ready is a big step forward," Carney said. "But the real payoff will come from spurring residents and businesses to replace aging gas appliances in existing buildings."

Bytof said city planners are preparing a proposal to extend the applicability of the all-electric ordinance to include remodels and renovations of existing homes. That ordinance is tentatively set for review in June.