Electrification Bills: AB 3001 & AB 3232

Assembly Bills 3001 and 3232 are moving through the California Legislature. They would mandate the electrification of buildings across the state. The cost of upgrading the state’s electric transmission and distribution systems to accommodate the additional load all-electric buildings would require is still unknown.

AB 3001:

  • Mandates that all new buildings be “electric-ready” starting in 2022, meaning they must have all the additional wiring and panel upgrades needed to handle all electric appliances.
  • Requires state regulatory agencies to change the way they define “cost-effectiveness,” effectively ruling out natural gas as an option.

AB 3232:

  • Creates formal building electrification goals for the state requiring that 100% of new construction be all-electric by 2030.
  • Requires that the state come up with a plan to reduce GHG emissions from existing buildings to 50% below 1990 levels by 2030.

California's natural gas utilities believe mandating all-electric appliances would burden families and businesses with unreasonable costs. In addition to the purchase of new appliances, switching buildings to all-electric appliances may require an upgrade to both the electric panel and wiring at great cost to the home or business owner. Californians who rent can expect to have these costs potentially passed along to them. Further, households that use all-electric appliances pay almost $900 per year more than mixed-fuel homes. Ecom-Energy closely monitors the legislative environment to stay abreast of updates like AB 3001 and AB 3232. We will continue to monitor these and other topics and will keep you informed of relevant changes.

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