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Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor at Stanford University, explains how areas of Los Angeles recently hit by a wildfire now have the opportunity to reduce energy bills and rebuilding costs by rebuilding all-electric homes. “There’s no reason to have electricity and fossil gas in a building at the same time. There’s nothing that gas can do that electricity can’t do better,” he says. On January 18, 2025, I was fortunate enough, thanks to the nonprofit Empowered by Light and a retired fire captain, Richard Birt, to help deliver portable solar power systems plus batteries to firefighters near the front lines of the Malibu Fire. The firefighters were very grateful, because their only source of electricity was their fire truck, and drawing too much power from the truck to charge the batteries for the chainsaws and communication equipment could render the truck inoperable. Also, the truck cannot be moved off the road to get closer to the fire line, whereas the solar battery system can. It was devastating to drive mile after mile down the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, seeing one burned structure after another. Families displaced. Memories lost. Histories erased. From the ashes, however, lies an opportunity to do what must be done across America and the world. That opportunity is to build all new homes and businesses with electricity alone and no fossil gas, contrary to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s January 13 Executive Order allowing residents to rebuild their homes “as is” with fossil gas. Avoiding gas eliminates the possibility of a ruptured gas line exploding, as happened in San Bruno, California, in 2010, where eight people were killed, 58 were injured, and 38 homes were destroyed. Avoiding underground gas also makes it easier to install underground power lines. Underground power lines are necessary to eliminate the possibility of sparks like those that likely caused the Eaton fire. Not burning gas also eliminates benzene (a carcinogen) and other air pollutants that affect household health and death from carbon monoxide poisoning due to faulty gas-burning appliances. It also reduces the need for the Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Facility, which was open for 112 days in 2015-2016, spewing 97,000 metric tons of methane and other gases into the air. Finally, reducing gas reduces the need for the 50,000 new oil and gas wells drilled each year in central North America. Making new construction buildings all-electric eliminates gas from the building, reducing upfront and long-term costs. There is no reason to have electricity and fossil gas at the same time in a building. There is nothing gas can do better than electricity. Contractors want people to include both electricity and gas, because they know they will get paid more for the extra work and equipment needed with gas. Unnecessary costs of installing gas include the connection fee, the trench for the gas lines, the piping, the gas appliances, the gas meter, and the carbon monoxide monitor. Owners of buildings that only have electricity do not need gas. They only need electricity and electric appliances. But major electric appliances use much less energy than equivalent gas appliances. For example, an electric heat pump for heating air and water, air conditioning, and drying clothes uses 67% to 80% less energy than a gas heater for the same purposes. An electric induction hob consumes 62% less energy than a gas one. Building owners can further reduce costs by installing rooftop solar and batteries and/or by taking energy efficiency measures in their buildings. There are at least 11 reasons why rooftop solar reduces costs for everyone. Among them, it reduces the need for expensive electricity from the California grid, reduces the risk of wildfires by reducing the need for power lines, reduces land needs, and reduces pollution from grid electricity. Rooftop solar also provides electricity in the event of a power outage. It cools buildings in the summer by converting sunlight into electricity. It eliminates the need for expensive roofing materials and serves as an additional source of electricity from the grid. Batteries move excess daytime solar electricity to the night, saving homeowners from having to pay high nighttime electricity rates. Efficiency measures (sealing doors and windows, using LED lights and energy-efficient appliances) reduce the need for any electricity at all. Adopting these measures can eliminate a building occupants fossil gas, electricity and petrol bills. A subsidised solar and battery system pays for itself in five years thanks to both initial cost savings and energy cost savings. Without a subsidy, the payback time is about nine years, whereas solar is guaranteed for 25 years. Los Angeles has the opportunity to do the same by rebuilding all-electric homes: reduce upfront costs by eliminating wasteful fossil gas installation; reduce customer bills for fossil gas and electricity in new homes and vehicle fuel; reduce the risk of spark fires on transmission lines and pipeline breaks; and reduce health, environmental, and climate damage from fossil gas. Mark Z. Jacobson is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and the author of “ No Miracles Needed : How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air.” |
