I am, of course, in favor of "clean, unpolluted air" BUT when circumstances are such that residents, many of whom are seniors or low-income families living in Mobile Home Parks which have gas lines installed in the park and each Lot is set up with gas connections for appliances such as furnaces, gas dryers, and stoves, what will be the answer to this dilemma? As a retired mobile home owner I would never be able to afford changing from gas connections to electric, and then turn around to purchase new electrical appliances. Does anyone ever think of Mountain View's residents in this situation? I think Mountain View needs to start thinking and planning such changes that will not uproot residents. Articles like this one today can worry the vulnerable. Better go back to the Tables!

Phasing out gas appliances is absolutely ridiculous. This kind of stuff drives me crazy.

As most of you know, parts of Los Altos had NO electricity for at least 3 days. Could you imagine how it would be if there was no alternative to electrical appliances?

For Mountain View residents like me, I was able to use my gas stovetop to prepare food during an outage that lasted about 10 hours.

Just an Observation,

I strongly urge both residential and commercial properties arrange backup power generators. Simply put since we already have an earthquake risk of losing electricity, the fact that we haven't REQUIRED them in all properties is amazing. They are cost effective, and they can be used indefinitely as long as fuel can be provided.

In fact I think property insurers should require it for insurance coverage.

Time to install them NOW!!!

you have to upgrade your electrical panel, then run a 240 Volt line thru your walls to the garage where the water heater is. This is going to cost a small fortune alone. And with electricity at 33 cents per KWh here in Mountain View, I bet you it will cost a lot to operate an electric water heater. Same with the electric furnace. Who can afford this? What if someone doesn't have $40,000 to spend on all this??

@eric - you hop in a truck, drive to Reno or Vegas, and buy a gas appliance there, and install it without permits. That's what's going to happen.

I had to replace a panel due to damage and run a high power cable under my house years ago, and that was an $12,000 job before any appliances. It'll be more now. A 40,000 BTU, 50 gallon gas water heater is about $700-800 at Lowe's, while the same company's 50-gallon heat pump heaters cost about $2,000 and require 240V 20A circuits, at minimum. For more than twice the price, you get half the heat output, so it takes twice as long to heat the water.

No thanks. I'll be doing my best to keep my appliances working for a long time, meaning buying new ones before the cutoff and from a manufacturer that sells spare parts.

I didn't have power for several days this week, and having a gas stove was a godsend, and my gas water heater allowed for warm water.

Just an Observation,

Most homes are getting a standard 240V main connection. At least in my home state in Mass. it was a standard. This standard has existed since the 1950s

In fact it is a CA standard after I did some research. Whoever has a home with only 120V connection with PGE has a substandard home or apartment.

Someone should have demanded 240V main connections to PGE from the beginning, so the buyer failed to do their due diligence.

In the end I still ask, WHY IN AN EARTHQAUKE STATE DOES IT ALLOW NO ELECTRIC BACKUPS AS STANDARDS FOR RESIDENTIAL HOUSING?

Again it looks like we have a lot of Gas based industries getting really upset because they are inherently unsafe, Electric systems are more safe than gas, do not emit toxic gases of any kind, and can be provided decentralized supplies even at the place of use.

A Generac backup power system costs about $6,000, and during a massive outage can be refueled with multiple kinds of fuel. So it can run perpetually. I would expect that as long as there is a plan to provide delivery of fuel, there will be no failures. It provides 24,000 watts of power, enough to operate a home very well.

A Heat pump needs 20 Amps which is only 4,800 watts of the power of that backup generator (20%). That means in cold or hot periods, the backup will provide enough to operate as long as the home is still standing. Regarding a power outage, it means you just wait for more fuel.

This backup can be used to operate pumps for water supplies and sewage too. So stop complaining that you are using unsafe and obsolete technologies.

Just an Observation,

THe current residential rates according to Web Link

says our rate is $0.16/KWHour Not $0.33/KWHour. And that also points out for som reason we are paying 32% more than the national average WHY!!!

We should be paying only $0.10/KWHour.

Just to correct for false data.

During the outage last week, I set up a camping stove in my kitchen. Much cheaper than a generator. And going without showering for a couple of days is fine unless you're doing manual labor or heavy exercise.

That said, I'm not happy with an unaccountable body that few residents know exists making rules like this. We have a legislature for a reason.

Just an Observation,

The CARB i believe the CARB was a government agency that was empowered BY LEGISLATION to be responsible for the mitigation of Air Quality in the state.

Thus they are doing EXACTLY what the are empowered to do. They take SCIENTIFIC and MEDICAL research and make determinations regarding what EVIDENCE they find.

They found that the DANGER of supplying natural gas through pipelines, the toxic gases made by both heaters and stoves, as well as other potential contributing factors made it more risky to use GAS systems then electric.

So do not claim they were not VETTED by legislative and executive government bodies, they were.

Organization of the Board
Board Members
The California Air Resources Board consists of 16 members. 12 are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the state Senate. The 12 members include six who serve on local air districts, four experts in fields that shape air quality rules, two public members and one, the Chair, who serves as the only full-time member. The Governor can choose any of the board members to serve as the Chair.

The other four include two who represent environmental justice communities (one appointed by the Senate and the other by the Assembly) and two nonvoting members appointed for Legislative oversight, one each from the Senate and Assembly.

Stop making up stories