Local officials press California governor for statewide all-electric building mandate

More than two dozen local government officials in California recently signed a letter urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to back a statewide all-electric mandate for all new building construction.

This action is needed, the officials say, after a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this year nullified the city of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas hookups on new buildings. In 2019, Berkeley became the first U.S. city to ban gas in new buildings for all uses including heating and hot water.

Currently, more than 75 California municipalities have “a form of building electrification requirement in place via their local codes,” according to a letter from the officials to Newsom.

The Berkeley decision could be reversed in court, but that could take several years. In the meantime, local electrification requirements are at risk of being overturned in court.

“Without your administration stepping in … many municipalities will be forced to backtrack on progress cutting emissions from buildings, due to insufficient resources to fight frivolous and opportunistic lawsuits,” the letter reads. “The best path forward in light of recent legal challenges is to follow the lead of local jurisdictions and pursue statewide implementation of common-sense clean emission measures for buildings.”