Shocking Electric Virtue Signaling in San Mateo

The early refrain about "reach codes" to force march people to use the fuel the masters want them to use regardless of the cost or hassle was that "it doesn't affect you, only new construction".  Well, toss that out in San Mateo as their virtue signaling extraordinaire city council just reached further into everyone's pocket.  And they did it with minimal public support.  From the Daily Journal piece

The ordinance addresses existing building construction through remodels. Panel upgrades in residential buildings will require capacity for future electrification, while all residential kitchen and laundry renovations in single-family homes must include outlet installation for future electric use. Residential buildings will be prohibited from fuel gas infrastructure extension for fire pits, grills and pools. When new air conditioning is installed or replaced in homes, heat pump air conditioning will be required. Heat pump water heaters are required during addition or alteration projects that include water heater replacement.

For electric vehicle charging stations, all homes must have a level two EV-ready space and a level one EV-ready space if a second space is provided. Residential and office buildings must also build up level two charging station capacity.

I hope the city council members get more than just a card at Christmas from the electricians' union.  The piece goes on to note "Questions about the financial impact remain...."    You bet they do.  It's not just the higher cost of the appliances or their availability, but also the direct labor costs and the "soft cost" of the homeowner having to project manage all of this.  Remember when you could call a plumber, ask for a new hot water heater and the only question was 40 gallon or 50?  And the whole job was done in 45 minutes?  No more.  The cost of the electricity alone is enough to bust the budget and all the virtue signalers point to is subsidies from PCE--like that is some sort of free money.

We allowed the camel's nose to slip under the tent in Burlingame back in 2020, but let's hope the rest of the animal stays in San Mateo.  It's also time to get into the generator business.

Comments

[Barking Dog]

Ask fired DA Goethals if he is going to revamp his new $4 mil San Mateo Park house he recently purchased to meet these reach codes.

[Paloma Ave]

Apparently only one issue allows freedom of choice.

Everything else will be decided for us.

Thanks to the politicians on city, county and state levels.

[MBGA]

And after the (D)emocrats set up laws forcing all remodels to be more expensive to meet their environmental fantasies, they will take the next step that all home sales, not just new homes, will have to be brought up to the new fantasies. Expect to do hundreds of thousands of dollars to your home to meet Reach codes if you plan to sell it.

[MBGA]

And keep in mind that are local (D)s look to their higher ups in the legislature to set their policies. Contemplate how insanely unrealistic and stupid they all are.

https://www.city-journal.org/california-ill-conceived-offshore-wind-goal

[Spurinna]

When is the city council going to represent the local citizens and not the higher up out of touch politicians?

Vote out the Democrats.

[resident]

I am not buying a new grill and running new electric into my backyard. Not gonna do it.

[Joe]

Holman Jenkins, Jr. of the WSJ is over the target again this week:

To meet a legislated goal of emissions-free electricity by 2040, New York will need up to 45 gigawatts of what it delicately calls DEFRs, or dispatchable emissions-free resources. Not only is that more than the state’s total current generating capacity of 37 gigawatts, these DEFRs, which are carbon-free like wind and solar yet not interruptible like wind and solar, don’t exist and have no prospect of existing in the next decade. Starting very much sooner than 2040, New York’s real choice will be Third World electricity reliability vs. paying fossil-fuel operators large fees to keep their plants up and running in a highly inefficient part-time fashion.

Many involved in the state’s energy “transition” might question whether purging the last 10% or 5% of fossil fuels from the system is worth the exorbitant cost. Don’t expect anyone to admit the bigger problem: The transition won’t likely do much to reduce global emissions.

This is the great unmentionable. When New Yorkers use less coal, oil or gasoline because of environmental mandates, the market price transmits the benefit to other global users, who then use more. Even more unspeakable is the corollary: Emission-spewing activities simply relocate from one part of the world to another. China’s emissions growth, from half the U.S.’s to almost 300% of the U.S.’s in 30 years, is partly the product of a transplant of emissions from the U.S. and Europe.

Again, the Biden administration quietly acknowledges the truth. Its own studies show that solar delivers 25% of its rated output in electricity, wind 35%, and natural gas 57%. As recently as 2010, coal delivered 67% but has fallen precipitously to 40%. Why? According to the National Energy Technology Laboratory, America’s coal plants increasingly are operated in inefficient, stop-start fashion to support wind and solar, magnifying the national risk of breakdowns and blackouts, which are also highlighted in the New York state report.

The ironies are not small. Profit-oriented energy providers already have an incentive to incorporate low-cost solar and wind in ways that meet customer demand for cheap, reliable energy. It’s the pie-in-the-sky mandates concocted by legislators that drive utilities to adopt renewables in senseless ways unless the goal is to make every homeowner buy a carbon-spewing emergency generator.

Holy Canoli, Batman: https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2022/06/lessons-from-stanford-get-a-generator.html#comments

[Barking Dog]

https://mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/10/ann-arbor-mayor-installs-new-gas-fireplace-amid-citys-push-for-home-electrification.html

[Phinancier]

Electric fireplace is an oxymoron promulgated by morons. These days you better get at least two quotes from electrician, three is better or you will get sticker shocked.