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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing reach codes — local regulations that go beyond what is required within the state’s codes to make meeting state requirements smoother — were the focus of a meeting of the Atherton City Council on Monday evening, Feb. 26. The town is also taking into consideration how to approach such codes given a recent court decision that struck down the city of Berkeley’s natural gas ban.
TRC Companies (TRC) presented proposals like an all-electric or a mix-use of methane gas and electricity for new home construction in Atherton. Connecticut-based TRC consults on energy infrastructure to meet and, in some cases, go further than upcoming state energy regulations.
The all-electric approach would make Atherton compliant with Building Energy Efficiency Standards and offer significant savings through Peninsula Clean Energy rebates and incentives. In contrast, the mix-use strategy would offer what is seen as “weaker” savings but still be compliant, according to TRC.
Pushback on the proposals occurred when the issue of the cost of installations in older homes necessary to comply with a new code was raised.
“To say it’s more cost-effective, I just don’t see that,” said Council member Bill Widmer. “So saying ‘it’s all going to be cheaper, don’t worry about it.’ I think the residents will come back and (take an) exception to that.”
Moreover, Widmer said the PG&E grid has been unreliable lately.
Representatives from TRC said they would return with the data showing cost-effectiveness when the council returns to the subject at a later date.
‘Electrification ready’ vs. electification mandates
In November 2022, Atherton adopted a reach code that required new buildings to be all-electric going forward; however, the town suspended the requirement after a court ruled against similar policies put in place by the city of Berkeley.
Atherton then adopted an updated model, which extended the path to becoming carbon neutral to 2045.
California may soon adopt a code this summer that requires heat pumps to replace air conditioning in buildings beginning in 2026. In 2027, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is looking to end the sale of tank-type gas water heaters in the Bay Area, among other changes.
“(Berkeley) essentially banned the ability to use gas appliances in exchange for the use of electric,” said Atherton City Attorney Mona Ebrahimi, on how the town would protect itself from being sued after the Berkeley decision.
“What staff is recommending for your consideration is if you mandate a policy that requires electrification ready, that’s not the same as mandating the actual use of electrification,” Ebhraimi added. “Then the builder gets to decide as to what they want to do to reach certain GHG emission targets that they have to do.”
“What I don’t want to do is require residents to incur a significant cost that doesn’t yield any benefit,” Council member Rick DeGolia said; however, he added he did like some of what was presented, such as requiring electric-ready pools.
The details of the proposals were also met with some confusion due to the overlapping nature of different codes.
“The most important thing that should come out of this is that we should be educating the consumer, not just the builder but the consumer, about why we should be doing this,” said Mayor Diana Hawkins-Manuelian. “And some of that didn’t really come out here.”
I build new homes in Atherton. What people don’t seem to understand is that when the “fuel” for various items becomes electricity and the quantity required for homes in Atherton is very large, because the homes are very large. When you want to go electric in these very large homes you have to start looking at 1200 amp services in three phase power. Three phase is commercial power and there is not a lot available in Atherton. So, to get that kind of power you have to go a long distance to get it. An electrical installation that would cost $60,000 for a lower demand becomes $250,000 or more when it has to move to three phase.
The grid has been unreliable. And it’s been unreliable because it is being asked to deliver more and more and more power. Something it doesn’t have the capacity to handle. Not to mention, where is that power coming from? Depending on time of year in California 35% to 55% of our power is generated by burning natural gas. Doesn’t really help with carbon load does it?
Atherton has approximately 5500 homes. If the entire town was to go all electric tomorrow the decrease in carbon emissions wouldn’t be a drop in the ocean as far as the rest of the world is concerned. So you want to require everyone to go all electric even those it has no effect so you can pat yourself on the back and pretend you’re “saving the world”, except you’re not, all you’re doing is costing people money.
Menlo Voter is correct. No one has done the “Homework” to determine the true:
1) Economic impact to the resident/home owner-
– Only 2 or 3 of the builders in Atherton (& they are building the most expensive homes) have been talked to & they just pass on the costs to their Uber-rich clients
– The residents have NOT been educated, or asked
2) The impact to the very over stressed grid in the area & along the distribution/transmission lines to get the power here
3) The massive environmental damage in mining the Lithium, Rare Earths, Copper, Bauxite & using all the plastics for cable/wire insulation
There is no “Free Lunch” or “Silver Bullet”. Electricity is NOT the answer to everything. The “total systems” environmental impact & economics are very complex, Such an analysis is far beyond the capabilities of Atherton’s staff.
Atherton can make recommendations, but should leave the legal requirements to the massive staffs of the Federal & State EPA’s.