Marin County is on the road to electrifying its buildings.
On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an electrification roadmap written by staff at its Community Development Agency.
According to Dana Armanino, the agency’s sustainability planning manager, 31% of Marin’s greenhouse gas emissions come from its homes and commercial buildings.
In 2022, 85% of the emissions from Marin’s buildings came from the burning of natural gas in appliances and equipment, said Armanino.
She said that gas burning appliances in the home can release unburned methane, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, and an electric structure can return to power faster after a major earthquake faster than a gas infrastructure.
But safety and resiliency were not the only catalyst. The roadmap is solely advisory. It was created in response to a 2022 Marin County civil grand jury report that said the county should design a plan to meet the local, regional and state rules for shifting to zero emission standards. The roadmap would affect the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and water heating industries.
A 2015 executive order by then-Gov. Jerry Brown set a goal for a statewide reduction of greenhouse gases of 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. According to the California Air Resources Board, the state achieved its 2020 mark four years earlier than expected.
Regionally, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District will ban the sale of gas space heaters and water heaters beginning in 2027, which will be done by phasing out gas-emitting water heaters first and then space heaters.
“It will only apply at the time of replacement of water heaters and furnaces,” said Armanino. “So, the rules will not make someone who isn’t already replacing an appliance change it out. And these rules won’t apply to equipment like gas stove and fireplace inserts.”
In 2023, the California Air Resources Board voted to ban the sale of new gas furnaces and water heaters beginning in 2030.
The Marin roadmap includes 10 recommendations that address the financing and logistics of transitioning the county’s homes and commercial buildings. Some of them are already underway.
The county has created an Electrify Marin resource hub for easy access to electrification, information and resources.
The roadmap calls for the county to develop a training pipeline for boosting a skilled workforce for energy and electrification projects. The county will work with PG&E to improve infrastructure planning and grid interconnections; partner with community-based organizations; implement a Marin County-wide electric vehicle acceleration strategy.
Other action items in the roadmap include implementing news green building and electrification codes, which will be brought to the board for adoption in November 2025; establishing permit streamlining and incentives; and providing low-cost financing programs.
A costly transition
According to the plan, upgrading to electrical systems can cost Marin homeowners $3,000 to $25,000, with most of the homes built prior to 1980. One of the public commenters in Tuesday’s meeting named James called the changes an unrealistic and insurmountable nightmare.
“I’m a fixed income senior citizen living in a house that is 150 years old,” he said. “The replacement appliances just don’t fit where the old ones were.”
His call was followed by a call from David Moller, of the Marin-Sonoma Building Electrification Squad, part of the nonprofit Climate Reality Project, which advocates for policies relating to electrification. He said a lot of space and water heating equipment coming out works with 110-volt plugs. Some can be mounted in windows or existing closet spaces.
Armanino mentioned that state and federal incentives were coming soon. A lot of it is through rebate channels, which require the property owner to cover up front investments and submit documentation for a refund. There is also state financing through a Go Green program, which works with private banks.
The state also offers financing through a Property Assessed Clean Energy program. Homeowners can secure upfront funding for efficiency and improvement projects that are repaid through an up to 20-year special line item on their property taxes — instead of traditional consumer credit.
“The biggest driver to folks making this change in their homes is understanding the incredibly generous tax rebates and incentives that are available,” said Supervisor Katie Rice. “Those federal incentives are up to a 30% tax credit. Seventy-one percent of the housing stock here, over probably three quarters of it, is property is owned by individuals. And given the wealth in this county, I imagine many folks could take advantage of the tax incentive.”
There is a Virtual Marin Green Home Tour on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. Residents can learn more on the county’s website.
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