Richmond launches plan to convert dozens of homes from gas to electric energy

Richmond aims to become the first Bay Area city to advance a neighborhood green energy initiative, with plans to convert homes in a pilot neighborhood from gas to electric energy. 

The Richmond Clean Energy and Healthy Homes Project calls for replacing gas appliances with high-efficiency electric ones in a low-income neighborhood that PG&E would help the city identify. Upgrades will include heat pumps, electric panel enhancements, onsite solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery storage. 

The pilot would include 40 to 80 homes and buildings, said David Sharples, Contra Costa director at Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a nonprofit that spearheaded the proposal.

 After the pilot, the idea is to scale it “so that many more homes and buildings can be electrified and decarbonized,” Sharples said.

Richmond has applied for a $20 million Environmental Protection Agency  Community Change Grant to cover the costs of the project and the appliances, as well as fund resources for workforce development, community engagement, and communications.

“We want to make sure that low-income neighborhoods in our city have the ability to transition away from gas-burning stoves and heaters to electricity as we are moving into this fossil-free future,” said Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin.  

Richmond already has elevated levels of asthma, as the city is home to the Chevron refinery as well as several traffic-dense highways. Research from UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, and LifeLong Medical Care has found the prevalence of asthma in Richmond to be approximately 25%, compared to 13% statewide. According to the American Public Health Association, children living in households with a gas stove have a 42% higher risk of developing asthma. McLaughlin and Sharples believe removing these appliances will work to improve public health.

Last month, the City Council passed a labor agreement with the Contra Costa Building Trades and Construction Council for the conversion work. E. J. Cire, a spokesperson for Building Trades said, “Our big picture view shows 20-50 newly created jobs for our residents.” 

For the project to be most effective, community cooperation is required, as all households on a block must agree to participate to allow the retirement of a gas line.  

McLaughlin stressed the need for community outreach, adding, “We want to ensure people embrace this because it benefits them.”

ACCE, which engages with the community through events and door-to-door outreach, reported a positive response so far.

As the building decarbonization movement is relatively new, examples of similar projects in California are limited to Albany, which has plans to electrify a single block, and Cal State University in Monterey Bay, which expects to retire the gas line in a campus neighborhood.

“Part of what we’re trying to do in Richmond is prove it can be done and serve as a model for other cities around the country,” Sharples said.  

In 2010 Richmond won an award from the Northern California Solar Energy Association for installing more solar watts per capita than any other large city in California, McLaughlin noted. “I think Richmond has a history of being a Bay Area city that leads the way in the environmental health and justice movement,” she said.

Orchard for ALL grows roots — and fruit trees — in Richmond’s Iron Triangle