California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a landmark bill into law yesterday evening that will offer entire neighborhoods in California the opportunity to upgrade to highly-efficient electric appliances for space heating, water heating, and cooking. 

SB 1221, introduced by Senator Dave Min, authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission to approve up to 30 neighborhood-scale electrification projects. This innovative law allows communities slated for expensive fossil fuel pipeline replacements to opt instead for free electrification upgrades. Participating households will exchange their gas equipment for cutting-edge electric alternatives at no cost, enabling utilities to avoid spending upwards of $3 million on new fossil fuel pipelines, which are paid for by utility customers and likely to become obsolete as California’s clean energy transition progresses.

While similar legislation has been adopted or is being explored in states including Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and Washington, California’s law stands out as the most ambitious approved to date.

All projects must secure community approval and demonstrate cost-effectiveness before moving forward. This approach is designed to deliver savings to all utility customers while accelerating California’s transition to clean energy.

In response, advocates put out the following statements:

“This new law is a commonsense way for us to efficiently and affordably offer entire neighborhoods a chance to step into the electric future with major upgrades in the appliances we use,” said Matt Vespa, senior attorney on Earthjustice’s Right To Zero campaign. “The methane gas lines we’ve been laying in neighborhoods in California for decades are incredibly expensive, polluting, and risk our health and safety. These pilot projects will help us shape a future for California with the clean air and energy savings that all-electric homes can give us.”

“We applaud Senator Min for his leadership and the Administration for taking meaningful action on long-term infrastructure planning and energy affordability with SB 1221,” said Beckie Menten, Interim California Director at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. “Neighborhood-scale decarbonization can benefit ratepayers across the state while expanding cooling, improving air quality, and cutting emissions. This is a major step in California’s clean energy future and these pilots can model how we can scale healthier and safer homes and buildings for the state and nation.”

“SB 1221 will lower utility bills while ensuring California’s utilities are investing in clean energy infrastructure that will serve us long into the future – not in fossil fuel infrastructure that drags us backward,” said Kiki Velez, Equitable Gas Transition Lead at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “With Governor Newsom’s signature on this bill, California will become the first state to enable neighborhood scale electrification across all of its investor-owned gas utilities, and we will be one step closer to putting gas in the past.”