REACH CODES 2022

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF LAR SURVEY RESULTS

FOR THE DETAILED SURVEY RESULTS  CLICK HERE 

AND FOR TO VIEW THE DETAILED COMMENTS CLICK HERE

  • 427 respondents (95% homeowners, 1% business, 2% renters, 2% Other)

  • 86% do not support a ban on all gas appliances in new residential construction

  • 94% do not want Los Altos to require replacement of defective/broken/end-of-life gas appliances In a residence with electric

  • 89% do not want the City to require replacement of gas appliances with electric in the event of a remodel 

  • 97% do not want the City to require replacing existing gas appliances with electric prior to a sale of residential/commercial buildings

  • 68% want to vote in a citywide election on whether the city should ban natural gas usage in homes

BACKGROUND

The Environmental Commission met with the City Council in a Special Joint Session July 12, 2022. At that meeting the Commission presented the Council with several options for new Reach Codes that would go into effect in January 2023 when the current Reach Codes expire. The Los Altos Environmental Commission proposed that the Los Altos City Council could ban all gas appliances, including gas cooking appliances, in all new construction and remodels. In addition, they were also proposed that if any existing gas appliances including gas furnaces and/or gas cooking appliances broke or reached end of life, the Reach Codes would require replacement with all electric appliances.

To see the Environmental Commission's presentation to the City Council at the July 12th meeting, click on this link: https://mccmeetingspublic.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/losaltosca-meet-a5aa152fe5dd42999ea0d6a655c111c6/ITEM-Attachment-001-ecd6ee8423994223a06b7e2f128edab1.pdf

In keeping with Los Altos Residents' (LAR) mission, LAR circulated an anonymous survey to solicit input from Los Altos residents on the Reach Codes contemplated by the Environmental Commission to inform City Council regarding residents' views of these proposed Reach Codes. The aggregated data from the survey was provided to the City Council when they met with the Commission.

After seeing the results of the LAR Survey, the Environmental Commission backed off from requiring electric appliances in some remodels (<50% remodel) and requiring the replacement of broken/end of life gas appliances with electric ones. And importantly, the Commission dropped the idea of requiring homeowners to replace gas appliances including HVAC with electric appliances before selling their home.

However, the Reach Codes the Environmental Commission is now proposing still require the total electrification of ALL new construction including single-family homes. No gas fireplaces, outdoor grills, or pool/spa heaters would be allowed!

The Environmental Commission is now conducting a survey of its own in spite of their admission that they lack expertise in designing/producing a survey (see remarks of Laura Teksler at July 12th meeting). Their survey was not designed by a professional survey consultant. Rather the Commission reached out to Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) for assistance - not surprising as SVCE is the spokesperson for the Commission, it has made all the presentations about Reach Codes at meetings with Council both this year’s go round and in 2020. This survey will be live until August 30, 2022. If you haven’t taken the Commission survey, take it now using this link - CLICK HERE! Be sure they hear from you! To view a copy of the Environmental Commission survey - CLICK HERE.

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