written 6 April, 2025
published 13 April, 2025
The economic and ecological costs of the climate crisis are growing. Despite the suicidally insane climate denial from the Federal government, many people want to address the climate issue and leave a habitable planet for our grandchildren. One important step is to decarbonize our economy, making energy investments to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere.
Change is difficult and expensive, but the status quo is increasingly unsustainable. Fossil fuels are finite, and the cheap reserves are already gone, assuring increasing costs. Fossil fuel combustion increases atmospheric carbon dioxide, risking complete economic collapse. Natural gas is methane, almost 100 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a decade.
The natural gas pipeline infrastructure is old, and expensive to upgrade. PG&E, our natural gas supplier, is on record stating they are getting out of the business, and will add no new natural gas infrastructure. The City of Ukiah has a general plan element to eliminate natural gas in the city by 2045.
Sonoma Clean Power supplies 88 percent to 100 percent carbon-free electricity. City of Ukiah Electric Utility supplies 70 percent carbon-free electricity. Even PG&E provides 47 percent non-nuclear carbon-free electricity. Every move we make toward electrification, and away from fossil fuels, decreases our risk of climate induced economic collapse.
Toward this goal, the city of Ukiah Electrical Utility, in conjunction with Climate Action Mendocino, will host a free, self-guided Electric Home Tour on Saturday, April 26th, from 1-4 pm. Tour registrants will receive a map showing five homes, and an apartment complex, which have a variety of technologies to decarbonize our lives. Each location will include some, or all, of the following.
Rooftop Solar: With good solar exposure, you can power everything electrical while using less electricity from the grid. Solar energy is free, and the hardware to collect it is a fixed cost, warrantied for 25 years, but lasting even longer.
Battery Storage: Solar energy peaks in the midday, but household loads extend throughout the day. Battery storage allows midday sun to be used at night, reducing your impact on the grid by avoiding using the more expensive evening electricity. With battery storage, your home is more power resilient to grid blackouts.
Heat Pump Heating and Cooling: Heat pumps move heat, rather than producing heat, much like a refrigerator moves heat from inside the appliance into the kitchen. Consequently, this technology is 3 times more energy efficient than any form of combustion or resistance heating.
Heat Pump Water Heaters: Heating water is one of the most energy consumptive appliances in a house. Heat pump water heaters, like heat pump house heaters, are 3 times more energy efficient than traditional water heaters, electric or gas.
Induction Cooktop: Induction cooktops use an electromagnetic coil to induce an electrical current in your cookware, heating the cooking utensil and contents, and nothing else. Induction heating is as precise as cooking with gas, with less air pollution and more energy efficiency.
Electric Car Charging: As transportation shifts from fossil fuels to more energy efficient electric vehicles, one of the benefits is being able to charge your car at home. In SCP/PG&E territory, traveling 100 miles will cost about $11 in electricity. In Ukiah, the cost is half that.
Certified installers will join each homeowner to answer questions about costs, installation, and incentives. Installers participating in the tour are: Jim Apperson (retired), Apperson Energy Management; Fernando Arcilas, Ultra Air HVAC; Rod DeWitt, American Refrigeration Services; Ronnie Dodd and Justin Foster, All In Heating and Cooling; Pete Gregson, Advance Solar, Hydro, Wind Power Inc.; Jonathan McChesney, Radiant Solar Technology; Jim Purcell, Pardini Appliances; and Laurent Richard, AC&R. For those who want to see heat pump products, another stop on the tour is AC&R Heating Cooling & Solar in downtown Ukiah.
Ukiah offers rebates to its electric utility customers to help offset the cost of energy efficiency upgrades, including $500 for a heat pump water heater and $150-$500 for whole house heat pump. These are in addition to possible state tax credits and rebates.
Upgrading our homes and community makes sense economically, and environmentally. This is a complex issue, but every incremental change is a step in the right direction.
Register for the Electric Homes Tour at climateactionmendocino.org/events. Registrants will receive a map with addresses, a glossary of terms, and information describing what appliances and installers will be at each stop.
