TAKE ACTION NOW to PREVENT BAN on Natural Gas Water Heaters and Furnaces
Shared from outreach by the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS®
On Wednesday, March 15, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Board of Directors will vote on banning the sale and installation of natural gas water heaters in each of the Bay Area’s nine counties by 2027 and natural gas furnaces by 2029. The undersigned local Associations of REALTORS® urge you to CONTACT your local representatives to the BAAQMD NOW to voice your opposition to this ban!
The Bay Area Counties impacted by BAAQMD’s proposed ban on gas appliances are: Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara.
This ban will impact homeowners, housing providers, and even tenants. It is expensive to replace gas appliances with electric versions, and most homeowners will have to upgrade their electrical service, electrical panel, and interior wiring.
These upgrades could cost a homeowner anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending upon the age of the home.
Some housing providers will not be able to afford this work and may have to sell their rental units which harms tenants. Furthermore, this proposed ban does not account for our seniors on a fixed income or those moderate- and low- income households, who do not have the resources to pay for costly electrical upgrades. This proposed ban also fails to provide any financial assistance to offset the costs for compliance to our Bay Area working families.
All Bay Area REALTOR® Associations understand how critical the environment is in our region's quality of life. But there are better ways to protect the environment without putting homeowners, housing providers, and tenants at risk. Financial incentives and grant programs for those homeowners wanting to convert to electric furnaces and water heaters are effective alternatives to an out-right ban on the sale and installation of these gas appliances.
EMAIL your local representatives on the BAAQMD Board and ask them to OPPOSE the Air District Appliance Rules on Furnaces and Water Heaters.
Your representatives on the BAAQMD Board are:
San Mateo County:
Vice Chair: Belmont Vice Mayor Davina Hurt - dhurt@belmont.gov
San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo - ncorzo@smcgov.org
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller - rmueller@smcgov.org
Further information:
Regionally, two Potential Electrification Conversion Cost Studies have been conducted by the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® and the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS®. They can be found HERE. This will give you an idea of the costs that might be associated with conversion to all-electric. *Please note: electrical contractors interviewed for these studies cautioned that the costs they provided were those without a conversion mandate in place - anticipate significantly higher costs if a mandate is passed.
Santa Clara Association of REALTORS®, San Mateo Association of REALTORS®, Delta Association of REALTORS®, Marin County Association of REALTORS®, North Bay Association of REALTOR®, Silicon Valley Association of REALTOR®, San Francisco Association of REALTORS®, Bay East Association of REALTORS®, Bridge Association of REALTORS®, Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®
