The South Coast Air Quality District (SCAQMD) is a regional air pollution control agency representing Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties with responsibility for regulating stationary sources of air pollution. The SCAQMD is considering two rules that would have a significant impact on up to seventeen million homeowners, renters and businesses:
Rule 1111 would regulate air emissions from gas-powered central furnaces, and
Rule 1121 would regulate air emissions from residential-type, natural gas-powered water heaters.
These rules would impose a $20 billion plus cost to consumers while providing minimal measurable air quality benefits for the four-county SCAQMD service area.
More specifically, these two rules would ban the use of natural gas-powered furnaces and water heaters in new construction, to take effect in 2026, further elevating construction costs and housing prices, thereby putting homeownership even further out of reach for many Southern Californians.
These rules would phase out existing natural gas furnaces and water heaters in existing single-family homes, multi-family housing, and businesses starting in 2027.
Unlike most SCAQMD rules that regulate large stationary sources of air pollution like oil refineries and warehouses, these rules specifically target individual homeowners, apartment buildings, and businesses large and small - meaning that the costs of these two rules will be directly borne by hard-working families and business owners.
Furthermore, the SCAQMD’s water heater and furnace mandates will impose a significant increase in electricity demand on California’s electric grid. Transitioning to all-electric water heaters and furnaces means increased demand on an electric grid that has not proven capable of consistently meeting existing demand.
