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San Francisco committee advances all‑electric new‑construction ordinance after wide public comment, duplicates file for technical fixes
Summary
The Land Use and Transportation Committee heard hours of public comment supporting an all‑electric new‑construction requirement and concerns from labor and small‑business groups; the committee duplicated the file for one week to refine waiver and transformer language and forwarded the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation (3‑0).
San Francisco — The Land Use and Transportation Committee on Oct. 26 advanced an ordinance that would require all new construction in the city to use only electric power, after hearing extensive public comment from environmental advocates, union representatives, small‑business groups and residents.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelmann, the ordinance sponsor, described a package of amendments including a limited restaurant waiver process that would be appealable to the Board of Examiners and the Board of Appeals, and said he had been in sustained negotiations with Local 38 and with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission about water‑reuse measures that could support a just transition for building trades workers. "If the ordinance does get voted out of committee today, and we have not gotten to a point where Local 38 is comfortable with legislation prior to it being voted on at the full board, I will, at his request, myself request a continuance of that legislation for at least 1 week at the full board," Mandelmann said.
The committee heard many speakers urging immediate passage with minimal carve‑outs. Dave Fahey of UA Local 38 praised the outreach but urged equitable mitigation for affected workers, using a metaphor to underscore his point: "It's a plane that's on the runway, which we're all trying to load everything in safely and everyone safely on board for us to proceed down the runway for a smooth takeoff." Johnny Coacher of the Rocky Mountain Institute cited health and climate harms and stated that "Gas stoves alone increase the risk of asthma by 42 percent in children." Several commenters, including the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, urged narrow and usable waiver procedures for restaurants and recommended allowing developers to make gas connections to ground‑floor spaces where future tenants may require them.
Committee members acknowledged the outreach and progress but flagged outstanding implementation issues. Supervisor Safae (member of the committee) highlighted technical concerns about transformer capacity and the need for a usable waiver process for restaurants that would not leave small businesses unable to open in new spaces without costly retrofits. Staff from the Department of the Environment committed to work with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, DBI and other agencies on developer readiness and workforce training.
Two procedural actions closed the committee portion of the discussion: Supervisor Safae moved to duplicate the file and continue work on outstanding technical and waiver language; that motion passed on roll call with three recorded ayes. Supervisor Preston then moved to forward the amended ordinance to the full Board with a recommendation (with an understanding that only non‑substantive changes might follow); that motion also carried on a 3‑0 vote.
Next steps: The ordinance is now scheduled to appear on the full Board of Supervisors agenda, and the sponsor and staff said they will continue to negotiate with labor, restaurant representatives and utilities on the waiver and transformer questions before final Board action.
