“ Our industry hasn ’ t changed in the last 100 years as much as it has in the last five to 10 years . And so the way our customers are using energy is changing and we need to make sure that our infrastructure , our grid , can support the different manner in which they use energy .”
DAVID BRADFORD Electric customer programs supervisor Roseville Electric people realize it ’ s cheaper to operate your building if it was all electric , right ? And ( it ’ s ) cleaner and safer ,” Blunk says .
Sixty-eight of the region ’ s homebuilders — including some of the nation ’ s largest such as D . R . Horton , Beazer , KB Homes , Broadway Redux and K Hovnanian — are enrolled in SMUD ’ s All-Electric Smart Homes program , and have completed 517 single-family homes and 20 multifamily homes as of September 2021 , with plans for 3,004 more to be completed by 2024 in SMUD ’ s service area . The City of Roseville launched its homebuilders ’ incentive program in spring 2021 . Within hours of launching , D . R . Horton enrolled in the program and has built and sold more than 25 all-electric homes in Roseville with more than 250 planned for development as of September 2021 .
Early adopters may have a leg up in the market as new legislation nudges building codes toward all electric beginning Jan . 1 , 2023 . In August 2021 , the California Energy Commission updated its energy code encouraging an electric heat pump for space or water heating in most new homes and buildings statewide and all-electric-ready infrastructure for single-family homes . Blunk says it ’ s estimated that requirement will drive the majority of builders to opt out of gas altogether , catapulting roughly 80 percent of all new construction to all electric beginning in 2023 . And the City of Sacramento adopted its New Building Electrification Ordinance in April 2021 with stricter measures than the state . The city ’ s new code requires all-electric builds for one- to three-story buildings beginning Jan . 1 , 2023 , followed by buildings with four or more stories on Jan . 1 , 2026 , and it ’ s considering requirements to retrofit existing buildings .
But the new code has met strong opposition from local industries such as restaurants and manufacturers that consider fossil fuels paramount to their business . In fact , the California Restaurant Association filed suit against the City of Berkeley for enforcing a similar ordinance . But it looks like gas appliances are headed the way of the dodo bird , as more than 50 cities and counties in California have committed to all-electric construction .
“ When we started this three years ago , electrifying buildings was not really spoken of as something that we were going to be doing in the future , and it ’ s really come on strong ,” Blunk says . “ So the people who are in our program now were more aware of where society is going … and they saw this as an opportunity to learn before it gets mandated … and get ahead of the curve .”
It ’ s that innovative ethos that will drive the progress that collectively may save the planet . If we don ’ t innovate , we can ’ t address the goals , Terzo says . “ It ’ s that sense of urgency of waking up every day and ( asking ), what are you gonna spend your finite amount of time on ?”
Jennifer Junghans holds degrees in biological sciences and horticulture , and writes about environmental health , agriculture and food systems , wildlife and conservation . More at www . jenniferjunghans . com .
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