Survey: cost, panel upgrades and rebates are primary barriers to household electrification in Los Alamos

A University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University team presented survey findings to the Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities board showing cost and infrastructure upgrades are the main barriers residents cite to switching from natural gas to electric appliances.

Yuting Yang, assistant professor of economics at the University of New Mexico, said the survey was administered between July and September 2025 and collected about 912 responses, of which roughly 582 were complete. "We had around 912 responses in total," Yang said during the presentation. The team reported the respondent pool skewed older (average age about 58), higher income (median household income reported above $150,000), and higher educational attainment than the utility population overall.

The nut graf: The survey found that households prioritize cost savings, appliance performance and efficiency when considering electrification. Respondents identified upfront installation costs, higher electricity bills and the potential need to upgrade electrical panels as the top barriers. In the discrete choice experiment the team used to estimate trade‑offs, rebates mattered most for households that expect to need panel upgrades, while efficiency ranked highest for households that do not need upgrades.

The presentation said 75% of respondents believed they would need an electrical panel upgrade to switch to electric appliances. Ahmed, a graduate student presenting the results, summarized the panel question as a self‑assessment: "the question simply asked them ... do you think your electric panel would need to be upgraded if you switch to electric appliances?" He added that upgrade costs in Los Alamos were estimated at roughly $4,000 to $8,000.

Board members pressed the team on representativeness. "It drew what appears to be a disproportionate return from high income households," said Board member Mister Gibson, urging additional analysis. Yang and colleagues acknowledged the skew and said they will perform weighting and other tests in the final report to produce estimates that better reflect the overall utility population.

On incentives and trade‑offs, the presenters described a discrete choice experiment with four attributes: rebate level, appliance efficiency, household carbon reduction and net monthly out‑of‑pocket cost. For households not needing panel upgrades, a 10 percentage‑point increase in appliance efficiency corresponded to a willingness to pay of roughly $19–$21. For households needing upgrades, increases in rebate levels had substantially larger influence.

The team also reported behavioral results: about 29% of respondents consistently chose a "neither" option in the choice sets (an opt‑out), and preferences for electrification rose with income and education and fell with respondent age.

Board members asked for clarifications the team committed to add in the written report, including clearer tabulations of how many survey respondents have rooftop solar (the presenters said 93 respondents identified as having solar) and better documentation of question‑level response rates for interactive items that respondents could skip.

The presentation closed with staff and the researchers agreeing to refine representativeness checks and to include additional clarifications in the final report. The board thanked the research team for the analysis.