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Page 3 of 4 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org <br />As noted at the September 8, 2025, meeting, staff recommend focusing on education and promoting local <br />incentives to electrify existing construction. State Building Codes mandate an all-electric baseline for new <br />construction, and choosing gas automatically triggers “Electric-Ready” mandates for future conversion, <br />which meets the goals of Reach Codes originally adopted by the City. Staff will continue to educate the <br />community on the following incentives and recommend use of electric technology for renovations or <br />remodels of existing construction during the permit application process: <br />Heat pumps: Heat pump water heater replacing gas water heater. The City offers a $500 rebate <br />per residential unit in addition to high-efficiency heat pumps. Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) offers <br />a $2,500 rebate per gas water heater replacement in addition to $500 for electric resistant water <br />heater replacements. <br />Heat pump HVACs: PCE offers a $1,500 rebate for replacement of gas heater/furnace with a heat <br />pump HVAC. <br />Electrical panels: The City offers three $500 rebates per residential unit, and PCE offers a $1,000 <br />rebate. <br />Additional incentives: The City offers $500 in rebates in addition to $1,000 offered by PCE for <br />qualifying participants of the California Alternative Rates for Energy and Family Electric Rate <br />Assistance Programs. <br />Staff will also provide incentives and rebate information in various languages in both hard copy and online <br />materials. The City’s website will be updated with additional information by the end of December 2025. <br />Staff will also explore options for encouraging electrification of appliances at various stages of the <br />permitting process. <br />EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT <br />Potential equity impacts associated with each of the code update categories were discussed at the end of <br />the Analysis section for Fire Code, Building Code, and Reach Codes in the September 8, 2025, staff report. <br />All code changes affect the whole City. As outlined in the analysis section and reinforced by the Redwood <br />City Climate Action Plan (CAP), the 2025 California Building Code advances climate goals in alignment with <br />the City’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Updated residential codes apply to <br />new construction and retrofitting will not be required for existing construction, meaning no additional <br />costs are imposed on existing homeowners. Additionally, the CAP proposed the implementation of an <br />Incentive Program Collaboration with Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) to provide rebates for heat pump <br />water heaters, solar installation, and battery storage. As described in the 2025 Building Code and <br />Redwood City Climate Action Goals subsection, the City encourages community education on these <br />rebates to reduce the cost burden of electrification efforts for homeowners, which can particularly reduce <br />impact on lower income households. <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />There is no fiscal impact to the City associated with the adoption of these code updates. <br />9.A. - Page 3 of 58 <br />309