HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/5/2023 Item 7a, Rands
Barry Rands <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Agenda Item #7a
This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond.
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
As a member of both the SLO Climate Coalition and SLO County chapter of Citizens' Climate Education, I want to offer
my enthusiastic support for the City’s initiative in promoting electrification of existing buildings in the City of San Luis
Obispo. I encourage the City Council to not only continue to pursue all policy options that can help promote rapid
expansion of electrification retrofits, but also encourage staff to continue engaging with the community to educate and
inform us of the benefits of home electrification and the resources available to make that transition.
And as staff time is always in short supply, the City should coordinate and partner with the many community based
organizations, both local and regional, that are working in this field. The Citizens' Climate Education (CCE) chapter, for
example, has made the promotion of building electrification one of its main pillars of activity. In September, CCE
partnered with the Climate Coalition and the City to put on a successful Electrify Your Life Expo with 65 attendees. The
Expo included a presentation by councilmember Pease and a City-staffed building electrification information table.
Smaller versions of expos like that could be conducted in mobile and manufactured home parks and in other HOA
venues as part of the Green and Healthy Buildings in partnership with community based organizations.
One of the questions that the staff report has asked the council to consider is “Are there key stakeholders staff should
engage with?” Given that hot water heating is the primary use of natural gas in residential homes, City staff should make
a concerted effort to engage more plumbing contractors in promoting our community’s electrification goals. According
to the Switch is On website referenced in the staff report, there is only one plumbing contractor in the city that is
registered with the TECH Clean program that offers rebates of up to $3,500 on the installation of Heat Pump Water
heaters. Consumers can only tap into that rebate through a registered contractor. We need more plumbing contractors
on board!
Once again, thank you for looking into ways that our community can more rapidly shift our dependence on fossil fuels to
cleaner sources of renewable energy. Though I am writing as an individual, I can assure you that the organizations that I
volunteer with and the many others in this community are eager to be of assistance to accelerate that transition.
Sincerely,
Barry Rands
Member: SLO County Citizens’ Climate Education
Member: SLO Climate Coalition
1