After losing their home in the Eaton fire, Martin Lo and his husband Bill Wentzel want to switch from natural gas to all-electric appliances when they rebuild on their property in Altadena.
“We think it’s good and in fact, crucial that in rebuilding so many homes, we eliminate gas lines and make appliances and HVAC electric-powered,” Lo said.
Michelle Taylor, whose 1925 home in Altadena’s Janes Village neighborhood also burned down, wants her gas range back when she rebuilds. “Gas makes a difference. For cooking, you want gas,” she said.
These two voices are examples of the re-emerging debate pitting natural gas vs. electric power that has catapulted itself into the rebuilding of up to 16,000 structures destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires on Jan. 7.
What’s better: Gas or electric?
On one hand, environmentally-minded groups and individuals say burning natural gas in homes produces carbon dioxide, adding to global climate change. And it’s wrong to continue damaging the climate, especially after fire storms that caused the disaster were fueled in part by a changing climate.
“We are the victims of climate change,” Lo said. “If we don’t do something about it, other effects of climate change would be even more disastrous.”
Taylor countered that electric power lines are being investigated as a possible cause of the Eaton fire that killed 17 people and burned down 9,413 structures, most of them homes. “Gas lines are not the problem in the fire,” she said.
Owners rebuilding have a choice
For homeowners trying to rebuild, the debate is up for discussion, but they have a choice.
In unincorporated Altadena, no power source is preferred. In the Palisades, part of the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass’s executive order grants property owners affected by the fires an exemption from a city ordinance that took effect in April 2023, requiring only electric power and no gas lines in any new buildings, with exceptions for restaurants and commercial.
The ordinance was passed to help the city reduce its emissions of climate-changing gases. Buildings in the city account for 43% of its greenhouse gases and the ordinance mentions the change to electric appliances will reduce the effects of climate change, namely rising temperatures, more severe wildfires and droughts.
The freedom given to affected residents in both areas allows rebuilding of a home “as it was.” Bass’s order exempts rebuilding according to the all-electric municipal code provision, known as Ordinance No. 187714 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code. They can go all-electric if they want to, but that requirement was waived to expedite rebuilding, Bass has indicated.
Sara Trepanier, an ER physician whose circa 1990 home burned down in the Palisades fire, had a gas range and gas fireplace until wind-whipped flames leveled the home she moved into in June 2024. Builders she’s talked to want to exclude gas and go all electric, she said.
“I like gas. It is cheaper in the long run. Also, gas works when the power is out so you can still heat water, have a hot shower,” she said.
Denise Doyen, also getting ready to rebuild her home on a Palisades bluff, recognizes the benefits of electric power.
“We are going to go all electric. We are getting rid of gas,” she said, adding that without gas lines she will feel safer in an earthquake. She also says it will make insurance less expensive.
Induction stoves, upcoming rules
What about cooking with an electric, induction stovetop? This uses electromagnetic waves to heat up the pot without burning any fuels. “I have one in my Dad’s beach house and I’m fine with it. But I have friends who are chefs and they really like gas stoves,” Doyen said.
The decision to build all-electric homes and in particular, states, cities and counties placing bans on gas stoves, have caused waves of dissent, as the state moves closer to that inevitability. Starting January 2026, the state building code will encourage the use of electric appliances in new homes.
For example, the stringent codes will boost use of heat pumps as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These are appliances powered by electricity that can warm or cool a building and act as a furnace and an air conditioner. Similarly, homes can replace gas-powered water heaters with electric ones.
In May, the South Coast Air Quality Management District will hold a public hearing on proposed new rules that will result in heat pumps as replacements of residential furnaces and water heaters. The transition will take 2-5 years and will take place when the gas-fired units break down and need replacing.
If fully implemented, the rules would cut down on NOx or oxides of nitrogen, a component of smog. The agency estimates these rules will prevent: 4,000 premature deaths; 16,000 cases of asthma and 4,000 emergency room visits.
President Donald Trump has pushed back against bans on gas stoves, saying for the last two years he would prevent Democratic efforts to limit gas-powered appliances.
Over 75 million U.S. households use natural gas for at least one appliance, mostly for home or water heat, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
After tragedy, time for change?
The Sierra Club Angeles Chapter has spoken out at community meetings, saying residents should incorporate only electric power into rebuilding blueprints and not default to the older, more polluting way.
“We know this is a local tragedy, and people are suffering. But we think of this as exactly the moment that can safeguard us from future disasters,” said Morgan Goodwin, director of the club’s Angeles Chapter.
He said it’s easier to incorporate heat pumps for HVAC systems, electric water heaters and induction stoves when building from scratch, in comparison to retrofitting an existing house. Rebuilders can also add solar panels to roofs and outside wall batteries as part of the construction, he said.
“It is very easy to construct homes that don’t use any fossil fuel appliances, by not putting in gas lines. It is easier to install these when you build a home (from scratch),” he said.
Some builders estimate savings of $8,000 for not running gas lines into a new home.
Legislative pressures
Two state legislators, state Sen. Henry Stern, C-Calabasas, and state Sen. Ben Allen, D-El Segundo, have written a joint letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, asking the agency to slow down Southern California Gas Co.’s restoration of gas lines and explore all-electric construction.
“These choices can lead to long-term energy savings for families, as well as help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the senators wrote.
They said gas demand is anticipated to be lower in the burned areas due to more people choosing to go all-electric, and future state building code restrictions coming in less than a year. Also, lowered demand and the heavy cost of rebuilding gas lines could result in “further dramatic rate hikes,” they wrote.
Instead, the two Democratic legislators want the CPUC to consider instructing SoCalGas and Southern California Edison to provide electric appliances to surviving buildings as a temporary service in lieu of gas. This could speed up recovery without existing businesses having to wait for new gas lines to be repaired or rebuilt.
The senators also asked the CPUC to investigate the role and risks posed by gas services within high-fire areas. “Our concern about the system’s fire safety is amplified by our awareness that gas lines cannot be instantaneously de-energized,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, SoCalGas has restored gas service to 14,000 customers in both fire areas as of Feb. 14. These are businesses and homes in the fire zones still habitable or not red-tagged, said Brian Haas, SoCalGas spokesman.
For homes burned out, it is up to the property owner to ask SoCalGas to work on returning service upon rebuilding, he said.
“SoCalGas has completed its assessments, validating the safety and integrity of our infrastructure. Since most of SoCalGas’ infrastructure in the fire-affected areas is underground, it remains undamaged by the fires and safe to continue serving customers as they return to their homes and businesses.” posted the agency on its website.
Electrifiers as examples?
For George Vine, electric space heating, air conditioning, and water heating made both economic and environmental sense. He has electrified two homes.
In his home in La Cañada Flintridge built in 1966, he replaced the gas furnace in the attic with an electric heat pump that creates heat and air conditioning. “It heats the house and also cools the house so you only need one piece of machinery and it runs on electricity,” he said.
He also put in a new duct system, an extra cost, an electric water heater, and an electric clothes dryer. He put in solar panels to run everything in the house, including the charging of two electric vehicles. The total investment was $35,000, he said.
Savings were in the utility bills. For the whole year, his electric bill was $350, he said.
After he sold that home, he bought a home in Thousand Oaks built in 1996 where he currently lives. And he has just finished retrofitting that home, including adding solar power and wall batteries to power the house at night.
“I wanted to help the environment and do everything I could possibly do to reduce my carbon footprint,” Vines said. “It also reduced my expenses by $700 to $800 a month — a nice addition.”