The Sacramento City Council last Tuesday adopted a strategy to guide the transition of existing buildings to replace gas appliances with electric by 2045.
The approved “Existing Building Electrification Strategy” does not impose requirements but instead sets policy direction for future ordinance development. City staff plan to develop ordinances to implement the strategy over the next two years, but don’t recommend any requirements for stoves in homes or restaurants.
“Existing building electrification is a key element of the City’s pathway to achieving its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045 and is also expected to provide long term public health and economic benefits in Sacramento,” explained City Senior Planner, Vic Randall.
The strategy is divided into two main sections, with core policies focused on:
- Single-unit and small multi-unit residential buildings, and
- Commercial non-residential and large multi-unit residential buildings.
The development of this strategy spanned two years and involved community engagement to establish equity and effectiveness criteria, which guided the formulation of core policies and supportive actions.
Additionally, staff collaborated with Vistar Energy to conduct comprehensive energy modeling to understand energy usage patterns and predict the utility bill impacts of electrification.
The project also included the deployment of a free home energy modeling platform, XeroHome, which Sacramento residents can use to get customized information about cost effective electrification projects for their home.
“We heard from community members that these different building types have unique needs and should be treated differently,” said Associate Planner, Laura Tuller. “We believe the strategy takes an approach that balances equity, cost effectiveness of electrification, and the need to take decisive climate action.”
Staff will prepare ordinances for concurrent adoption with the 2025 California Building Standards Code, with an expected effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.
Visit the Existing Building Electrification webpage to learn more.
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