气候变化领域集成服务门户

Bellingham took its first steps toward electrification of buildings with a public hearing on proposed changes to its building code Monday, Dec. 13.

A measure under City Council consideration would require new commercial buildings and new apartment buildings more than three stories high to use electricity for heating and water heating, meet certain energy-reduction standards and use solar energy or provide rooftop space for eventual solar energy installation.

It’s based on recent code changes enacted recently in Seattle and Shoreline, and one that’s being discussed in King County, said Kurt Nabbefeld, development services manager.

“They do bring with them some challenges, such as increases in housing costs,” Nabbefeld said during an online City Council meeting Monday. “(But) they’re the right step in our fight against climate change.”

Seth Vidaña, the city’s climate and energy manager, told the council that these steps requiring electricity for heat and water heating in new construction are necessary if the city wants to meet its self-imposed goals of being 100% carbon-free by 2050.

“However you look at it, there’s a lot to do and not a whole lot of time,” he said.

Vidaña said 54 cities in California have passed similar legislation, and similar electrification measures are becoming more popular across the U.S. — with Burlington, Vermont; Brookline, Massachusetts; and New York City considering such laws.

States throughout the South and in parts of the Plains and Midwest are moving to prevent cities from enacting such electrification laws, however, Vidaña said.

About two dozen Bellingham residents spoke at a 90-minute public hearing on the proposal, many of them representatives of environmental-advocacy groups or the energy and construction industries.

Environmental activists warned of further summer heatwaves, skies filled with wildfire smoke and more frequent flooding on the Nooksack River as global warming affects seasonal weather systems.

Construction workers and energy officials warned of job losses and steep increases in building costs resulting from a law banning natural gas for heating and water heating.

But Naomi Stelling, a junior at Bellingham High, was among a few residents who spoke personally and passionately about the Earth’s plight.

“I don’t have plans for 30 years from now because I didn’t think that our planet would last that long thanks to climate change. My future is vanishing every second,” Stelling told the council.

“Although this step might be small, it can have great significance,” Stelling said.

Joel Robinson told how her parents’ home in Nooksack was flooded by more than a foot of water on Nov. 15 for the first time since her dad built it 50 years ago.

“I thank you for your leadership on the climate crisis that is presenting its impacts to us right now,” Robinson said.

Text of the proposed changes were first made public last week, and several speakers urged the council to move forward slowly.

Electrification would “place a huge strain on the electrical grid,” said Carryn Vande Griend, a spokeswoman for Puget Sound Energy.

”Like everyone else here today, PSE has just started reviewing the draft ordinance language, and we will be offering more specific feedback in January, when the council takes this up for discussion,” Vande Griend said.

“We want to work alongside the city to ensure that their electrification policy is implemented in a way that reduces emissions, maintains grid reliability, and provides energy security for our customers. We can get there further faster by innovating with the infrastructure that’s currently in place than we can through complete electrification,” she told the council.

Union plumber Derek Drake of Bellingham urged the council to reject the measure because it would cost jobs and raise the price of energy.

“Many of my union brothers and sisters, our lives and livelihoods, like I said, are on the line,” he said. “I have daughters out renting — their prices will go up.”

After about 90 minutes of public testimony, the measure was referred to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion.

Councilwoman Pinky Vargas, who was participating in her last meeting after deciding not to seek re-election, asked her colleagues to focus on the people who will be affected by new building codes.

“I know that buildings are our highest energy use, and I understand that we have to make these changes,” Vargas said.

“I do want to make sure that we keep our housing affordable, that is important. But I also want to ensure that we focus on the just transition, and that includes all the laborers who are working in this industry,” she said.

Councilman Michael Lilliquist agreed, but he also sought swift action.

“The key challenge here might not be crafting the right technical language, but working out the human and economic aspect of this,” Lilliquist said.

“Our economy has always been built on skilled people like you, so will the future, so let’s figure out how to get that done,” he said. “I don’t think we can slow down on this too much. We need to move as fast as we possibly can, and it still might take a pretty long amount of time.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2021, 5:00 AM.

CORRECTION: The number of stories in a building to be impacted by this ordinance was corrected April 12, 2022.