Tall & Urban News

Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance on 7 December requiring that all new buildings within city limits be constructed all-electric. With this vote, Los Angeles became the largest city in California and the second largest city in the United States to mandate a definitive shift away from fossil fuels in new construction.

New buildings of all types are covered by this mandate. Limited exemptions are provided for specific end uses like cooking in commercial facilities and process gas for certain industrial uses, but any construction that uses an exemption must ensure that it is electric-ready for future energy transitions.

The climate benefits of transitioning from mixed-fuel buildings - which use both electric and gas energy - to all-electric buildings are reason enough to electrify, but the benefits go beyond climate. Building all-electric from the ground up leads to significant savings for developers when compared to mixed-fuel developments, and avoids the need for electrification retrofits down the road. 

The move now gives 70 California cities some form of an all-electric requirement, prompting speculation that a statewide code update might come in 2025.

Read more on this story at NRDC.