Los Angeles leaders should consider rebuilding the more than 20,000 structures destroyed by the January 2025 wildfires as all-electric rather than as dual-fuel despite the potential higher life cycle costs of all-electric buildings, a new report finds.
After the fires, which burned for much of January, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order that temporarily waived the city’s all-electric building code requirement for rebuilding projects in fire areas, the report by the U.C. Berkeley Center for Law, Energy and the Environment says.
Typically, an all-electric new single-family home can be $7,500 to $8,200 cheaper to build than a dual-fuel home, while installing a gas line to a new home can cost between $500 and $2,000, according to the report.
But in the neighborhoods burned by the fires — specifically the Pacific Palisades and Altadena — much of the existing natural gas underground piping was undamaged. This negates savings typically found on new construction sites where natural gas infrastructure must be built from scratch.
Along with reusing existing gas piping, rebuilding homes as dual-fuel homes could be cheaper due to bills: Natural gas bills in L.A. currently are lower than electricity bills for most residents, the report says.
“Given the possibility of high electricity costs into the future, the most cost-effective option over the building life cycle may be a dual-fuel rebuild, but this scenario is uncertain and necessarily affected by the context of the climate transition in California,” the report says.
In the long run, all-electric homes could end up as a better investment for a homeowner if more buildings in the region switch to electric-only service. In such a future, there would be fewer ratepayers to share the burden of gas recovery costs, thereby increasing the cost of gas bills.
All-electric buildings also provide other benefits to homeowners, such as improved indoor air quality, the report says. Natural gas contains volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) that are associated with numerous adverse health impacts and generate indoor air pollution even when appliances, such as stoves, are turned off. Switching from a gas stove to electric induction can reduce indoor nitrogen dioxide air pollution by over 50%, the report says.
As for speed, all-electric construction tends to be faster than dual-fuel construction: Many rebuilt homes will need to issue separate gas and electric service requests, creating potential coordination issues. Additionally, electricity service will be restored to all homes and businesses regardless of the recovery approach, the report says.
Policymakers should support streamlining all-electric construction and facilitating electricity affordability, while educating consumers about the cost effectiveness, speed, safety and sustainability of all-electric infrastructure, the report says.
Last month, Mayor Bass issued an executive order directing city departments to streamline pathways for all-electric and fire-resistant construction.
