California could save millions by paying homeowners to switch to electric appliances

Recently I spoke with a Californian whose yard was torn apart when his local utility arrived to replace his aging gas pipeline. The utility had blocked off the road and started digging. 

But all the jackhammering and the new trench in his garden were entirely unnecessary. The homeowner had already replaced some of the gas appliances in his house with non-polluting electric models and wanted to soon get off gas entirely.

A measure on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, Assembly Bill 2313, would have spared this homeowner needless headaches and given him thousands of dollars for switching to modern, all-electric appliances — all while saving other gas customers money. 

The Home Energy Choice Act will give Californians the option to electrify their homes with money gas utilities would otherwise have spent replacing old gas service lines across the state. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Marc Berman, has garnered support from more than 100 organizations, as well as majority votes in the Capitol, for good reason.

Californians spend billions of dollars each year to maintain an aging gas infrastructure. According to UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change & the Environment, customers will pay $43 billion by 2045 to keep this dinosaur of a system alive. 

PG&E alone completes 15,000 service line replacements every year, at a cost that can exceed $20,000 each time, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in cost passed onto customers’ gas bills. 

The system runs like an auto-renew subscription: We keep replacing gas service lines, even as more and more Californians want to kick gas to the curb and shift to nonpolluting appliances.

Home Energy Choice is a practical way to avoid these costly and unnecessary gas infrastructure investments. The best part of this legislation? It’s completely voluntary for homeowners and won’t cost customers across the state a single extra dollar. 

The bill would ultimately reduce costs for all utility customers, because the money customers receive through the program would be less than the cost of pipeline replacement. In PG&E’s territory, this new option would mean a $15,000 to $17,500 payment per home to upgrade to modern, nonpolluting appliances.

Helping more Californians purchase appliances — such as ultra-efficient heat pumps and induction stoves — will cut pollution’s harmful effects in homes. 

In a study this year, researchers in Ohio replaced gas stoves with induction models for people who have asthma. The findings were stunning: “Our improvement was about twice as much as you typically see with medical treatment of asthma,” a lead researcher reported.

They say food is medicine. But maybe cooking that food on a stove that won’t pollute your home is akin to medicine, too.

Finally, this bill will help provide the quarter of Californians who don’t have access to cooled air with air conditioning. As summers get warmer, people need more ways to beat the heat. All-electric heat pumps, unlike gas furnaces or traditional air conditioning, provide both heating and cooling. 

Demand is growing, with heat pumps poised to outsell air conditioners across the country. A new report found installing a heat pump can increase a home’s property value; simply mentioning it in a listing will boost its sales prospects. 

That’s likely because heat pumps hold a steadier temperature than their gas counterparts, making homes more comfortable.

Californians need to unearth every solid solution to make energy more affordable. Home Energy Choice is a no-brainer bill that helps Californians get cleaner, more efficient appliances and gives people the opportunity to choose what energy powers their home, all while lowering costs. 

Newsom should sign it soon. California can help light a path for other states looking for a pragmatic way to help people upgrade their homes.