Building Electrification
Massachusetts Decision Highlights the Need for State Action on Building Electrification
This week, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) disapproved the state’s first local ordinance that would have prohibited the installation of fossil fuel infrastructure in newly constructed buildings and in major renovations. The town of Brookline overwhelmingly passed this building electrification by-law in November of 2019, becoming the first municipality…
The Future of Hot Water Is Heat Pumps
State and local leaders nationwide are beginning to recognize the importance of eliminating fossil fuels in newly constructed buildings. The rationale is clear: gas has an extremely limited place in our clean energy future, and it’s far more difficult, costly, and disruptive to swap out gas-consuming equipment from…
California Should Go All-Electric in New Construction—State’s Largest Utility Agrees
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), California’s largest combined gas and electric utility, became the first dual-fuel utility in the country to formally support ending new gas hookups in buildings. In a letter to the California Energy Commission (CEC) this week, PG&E endorsed efficient, all-electric new construction as part of…
Stimulus, Clean Energy, and Changing the Status Quo
The status quo no longer works—for health, for equity, or for climate. In just three months, we lost over 100,000 Americans to COVID-19. Over 40 million Americans have lost their jobs, putting the US unemployment rate at levels not seen since World War II. We must forge a positive direction…
It’s Time to Incentivize Residential Heat Pumps
The United States has made significant progress decarbonizing the electricity sector in recent years, and as the grid continues to get cleaner, cities and states are turning their attention to other sectors, such as direct fossil fuel use in buildings. The use of gas or fuel oil for heating, hot…
