SANTEE NOT INTERESTED IN MOVING TOWARD ELECTRIFICATION

Electrification in new construction is not getting a round of applause in Santee.

At a meeting earlier this month, the Santee City Council said it was fine continuing with its current plan: the baseline California Title 24 for new developments in the city.

Title 24 includes solar-ready buildings, ventilation and indoor air quality, insulation, roofing products, and indoor and outdoor lighting.

Electrification takes things a step further, as the process of replacing technologies that use fossil fuels — such as coal, oil and natural gas — with technologies that use electricity as the source of energy.

In new buildings, it typically includes installing electric induction stoves, electric heat pump space heaters, electric heat pump dryers and electric heat pump water heaters.

Santee Principal Planner Chris Jacobs told the council that Santee has the flexibility to adopt energy codes that are more restrictive than Title 24 in new construction, and laid out some of the pros and cons.

Reducing greenhouse gas, improving air quality, the promotion of solar and electrical appliances were some of the pros. Increased monthly electrical bills (unless offset with solar) and higher natural gas bills were some of the cons.

Shown examples of other cities in the region that have moved to electrification, the Santee City Council was united that the city didn’t need to move in that direction.

The city of San Diego has had electrification as part of its climate action plan since 2015.

Jacobs told the council that Carlsbad in 2019 began requiring heat pump water heaters or solar thermal water heating in new residential buildings with less than four stories. Encinitas and Solana Beach jumped on the electrification train earlier this year.

Solana Beach requires electric power for heating and air conditioning, water heating and clothes drying systems but does not require it for cooking appliances. The Encinitas ordinance requires new residential and nonresidential buildings to be all-electric except for restaurants that use gas flame cooking, and fire or police stations.