California Can’t Wait on All-Electric New Building Code

RMI urges the California Energy Commission (CEC) to mandate all-electric new construction in the 2022 building energy code cycle to avoid significant carbon emissions and financial waste.

• Delaying the all-electric building code update from the 2022 cycle to the 2025 cycle would result in an additional 3 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2030, which is equivalent to adding 650,000 cars to the road for one year.
• A three-year delay in implementing the all-electric requirement would lead to over $1 billion in unnecessary spending on new gas connection infrastructure that is at high risk of becoming obsolete.
• Gas appliances in homes contribute to significant public health issues in California, with approximately 12 million residents exposed to nitrogen oxide levels that would exceed federal health-based standards if they were outdoors. Buildings are the primary source of premature deaths from air pollution in the state, causing over 6,000 deaths annually.
• California is currently not on track to meet its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions goal of a 40 percent reduction below 1990 levels, as direct emissions from buildings have increased during each of the three most recent years, primarily due to gas use.
• There is existing support for a statewide all-electric code from over 30 California cities and counties, large trade associations for electrical contractors and architects, and major utilities including Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

APA

RMI (2020). California Can’t Wait on All-Electric New Building Code. https://rmi.org/resources/california-cant-wait-on-all-electric-new-building-code/

Chicago

RMI. California Can’t Wait on All-Electric New Building Code. 2020. https://rmi.org/resources/california-cant-wait-on-all-electric-new-building-code/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=California Can’t Wait on All-Electric New Building Code |date=28 July 2020 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/california-cant-wait-on-all-electric-new-building-code/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2020california, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{California Can’t Wait on All-Electric New Building Code}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/california-cant-wait-on-all-electric-new-building-code/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }