Name: San Mateo: No gas for new builds
Brand: smdailyjournal.com
SKU: smdailyjournal-com-68
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

San Mateo: No gas for new builds

preview

Welcome,The San Mateo City Council this week directed staff to draft a reach code requiring new construction in the city to be powered only by electricity and not natural gas.“As I’ve learned more and more about the viability of this and as I’ve learned more about how desperate our climate situation is right now I just don’t see this really as that much of an option,” said Deputy Mayor Eric Rodriguez at Monday’s meeting. “If we don’t do it now it’s just going to be more painful later.”The council could decide to adopt an all-electric reach code that applies to all types of new construction in the city or just multifamily residential buildings.Aside from Councilwoman Diane Papan, who endorsed the all-electric mandate for low-rise and mid-rise multifamily buildings specifically, councilmembers did not specify which types of construction they want to be subject to the new rule during the meeting.&nbsp;While councilmembers seemed to agree that all-electric construction is largely cheaper than natural gas based on various cost effectiveness studies, several speakers during the public comment portion of the meeting said that’s not always the case —particularly with respect to construction of affordable housing.“Financing for affordable housing is limited. In the near term all electric construction might pose a challenge for affordable housing construction,” said resident Alan Mattlage.Persuaded by the argument, Councilwoman Amourence Lee said she’d like the reach code to be flexible enough to avoid that potential problem.“I think there’s an important point in terms of creating some flexibility in the case that it could be somewhat of a deterrent for our affordable housing projects,” she said. “Maybe there’s a nuance we can find in the crafting of the policy that would allow for a preferred electric option for a 100% affordable housing project. I think that could be a good middle ground.”Councilmembers also expressed interest in revisiting and potentially strengthening the reach code they adopted last year, which recommends but doesn’t mandate all-electric new construction. A reach code stays in effect for three years at a time. &nbsp;During the meeting, Sustainability Analyst Andrea Chow noted buildings account for 40% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and natural gas generates 80 times more pollution than electric energy.She also said one of the main reasons why moving toward electricity is important in San Mateo is because “we have very clean electricity provided by Peninsula Clean Energy so we’re really able to minimize emissions from electricity and almost make it greenhouse gas free.”As with the previous set of reach codes, building electrification reach codes need to be filed with the California Energy Commission (CEC), which also requires a 60-day comment period, according to a staff report. The ordinance would go into effect after council adoption and CEC approval.All of the city’s adopted reach codes expire at the end of the 2019 code cycle on Dec. 31, 2022, and would need to be reviewed and readopted for the next code cycle that begins Jan. 1, 2023, according to the report.In other business, the council also directed staff to draft an ordinance requiring safe gun storage in the city. The new rule will require guns being stored at home to be in a locked container or affixed with a locking device. A violation of the rule could cost $1,000.The council also unanimously agreed to extend a moratorium on evictions of small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to Sept. 30.(650) 344-5200 ext. 102To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!×To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading.Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.Access to our e-editionOption to remove all adsThe good feeling of supporting real, local news in your community$99.00for 365 daysRatePriceDuration1 Year$99.00for 365 days6 Months$72.00for 180 days3 Months$45.00for 90 days1 Month$20.00for 30 days1 Week$8.25for 7 days$60.00for 365 daysRatePriceDuration1 Year$60.00for 365 days6 Months$42.00for 180 days3 Months$27.00for 90 days1 Month$12.00for 30 days1 Week$5.00for 7 daysSuccess! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.Error! There was an error processing your request.If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now!© Copyright 2020 , 1720 S. Amphlett Blvd., Suite 123 San Mateo, CA&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .×We are proud to be the Peninsula's home page providing the best in local news coverage to the community. We notice you are using an ad blocker. We rely on ad revenue or subscription revenue to fuel our ability to gather real local news.

Welcome,The San Mateo City Council this week directed staff to draft a reach code requiring new construction in the city to be powered only by electricity and not natural gas.“As I’ve learned more and more about the viability of this and as I’ve learned more about how desperate our climate situation is right now I just don’t see this really as that much of an option,” said Deputy Mayor Eric Rodriguez at Monday’s meeting. “If we don’t do it now it’s just going to be more painful later.”The council could decide to adopt an all-electric reach code that applies to all types of new construction...

San Mateo: No gas for new builds

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS