Meeting California’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals requires decarbonizing its existing housing stock—replacing gas furnaces, water heaters, and stoves with electric equipment such as heat pumps, alongside improvements to insulation, wiring, and addressing health and safety problems in the home.
A growing number of state and local policies and programs seek to get there, including through zero-emission appliance standards and retrofit incentives, such as rebates. However, low-income households and communities of color face significant barriers to implementation, including high upfront costs, limited technical capacity, owner-renter split incentives, and displacement risk. Overcoming these barriers will not only advance the state’s emissions goals but also ensure that all Californians benefit from the clean energy transition.