Forum coaches staff on framing new all-electric building standards: 'you can keep your gas stove'

Larkspur's Climate Action Forum spent the bulk of its Wednesday meeting on a citywide question: how to explain the city's new CalGreen reach code to residents before the City Council takes it up for a second reading on August 20. At the first reading, the Council concurrently adopted the 2022 CalGreen Tier One standards, with prior exemptions stripped out, and the 2025 CalGreen Tier One standards, declining to use the "flex path" model some neighboring cities have chosen.

The practical reach is narrower than the rhetoric, forum members argued. The standards apply only to new construction and to major remodels that increase floor area by more than 50%; existing appliances are untouched unless a project crosses that threshold. Member David Muller said that fact undercuts the "don't take away my gas stove" complaint, and Vice Mayor Stephanie Andre put it plainly: if you're not remodeling more than half your house, the gas stove stays — though she added that residents will still want a clear, high-level overview of what Tier One means for them.

Council Member Sarah Margles pressed staff to condense the ask for the Council — new construction or existing homes, and at what cost. Staff member Shannon O'Hare said there is no simple cheat sheet for the codes, but pointed to vetted government and industry white papers and promised background specific to single-family homes in the staff report. When member Lena Pikovski asked for historical data on the number and type of local remodels to quantify likely cost impacts, O'Hare cautioned that fluctuating battery prices, tariffs and material costs would make such figures "junk data."

Members offered ammunition anyway. Muller noted several recent Larkspur projects converting modest 1,500-square-foot homes into 4,000-square-foot homes, arguing that for owners spending millions the all-electric premium is insignificant — unlike the worries of fixed-income residents who aren't doing that kind of work. JJ Aubrey cited a New York State nonpartisan study finding retrofit payback under 10 years and household savings above $5,000 over 30 years with 17% less energy use, and argued the bigger lever is Larkspur's housing element commitment to roughly 850 new units: cheaper to build electric from scratch than to retrofit later. Staff will recommend the Council waive the second reading and adopt the ordinance as presented, since at this stage it is largely all-or-nothing.

Sources: the meeting agenda and video are linked below.

Marin's MCE reps voted no; the Deep Green premium goes up anyway on Oct. 1

The MCE board has voted to raise the Deep Green premium from 1¢ to 1.4¢ per kilowatt-hour effective October 1, 2025 — over the objections of most of Marin's representatives, the forum was told.

“Basically almost all the representatives of Marin voted against the premium increase, but the resolution passed anyway.”— Vice Mayor Stephanie Andre, reporting on the MCE board vote

Staff also described a new MCE pilot that would let municipalities buy a true "24/7" renewable product, as opposed to Deep Green's annually-averaged supply, at a proposed premium of 5.4¢ per kWh for the first 400 municipal accounts. No decision has been made for Larkspur; the program is still in early planning.

David Muller noted that among county climate activists it is well known Deep Green is not a 24/7 product, which complicates the case for charging EVs overnight when off-peak power can be dirtier. Shannon O'Hare said Larkspur's municipal energy use is light enough that joining a 24/7 pilot could cost the city less than it would agencies running water systems or large EV fleets.