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Committee advances electrification outreach and seeks permit data to track installations
Summary
At a Los Altos Hills committee meeting members approved minutes and focused on outreach for home electrification — proposing a central web page, weekly newsletter items and event participation — and asked town staff for permitting data to better track heat pump and water-heater installations.
At a recent Los Altos Hills town committee meeting, members advanced plans to centralize outreach on home electrification and asked town staff for permitting data to better track local installations.
Committee member S2 outlined a draft web page and a plan to use short, eye-catching items in the town manager’s weekly newsletter and in the local “Our Town” publication to drive residents to a single resource with steps, rebates and contractor links. "I put a page on this together when I sent it out and I took our little committee back and sent it out to everyone and you can edit it and comment on it," S2 said, describing the proposed outreach hub.
The committee also discussed working with regional partners and events. S6 said organizers of a recent "living electrics" fair had several exhibitors and that Los Altos Hills had not been included as a sponsor; members agreed to try to coordinate with Greentown and other local groups to secure participation and possible funding or promotional support.
On tracking, staff member S7 told the committee the town can provide a data dump of permitting records for water heaters, heat pumps and batteries but warned the dataset will have gaps because some installations occur without permits. "There will be some gaps even if we had great permitting data… folks working without permits," S7 said, and suggested the group identify what specific permit descriptors they need so staff can capture them going forward.
Members agreed to form a tracking subcommittee (Linda, Johan and Eileen) to sort through existing permit data and recommend new subtypes or fields that would help distinguish electrification projects. S3 described the subcommittee’s role: "Figure out what's missing, how they can track this better."
The group also discussed outreach tactics to increase permitted work, including contacting large local installers and offering enhanced rebates as incentives. One member noted challenges with online community groups and Brown Act restrictions; Chair S3 cautioned that using Google Groups or similar tools could trigger serial-meeting concerns if a majority of committee members interact there.
Action taken: the committee approved the January minutes by voice vote; the motion to accept the minutes as written was recorded and Chair S3 confirmed approval.
What’s next: the tracking subcommittee will review the town’s permitting data and return recommendations on new data fields and outreach strategies at a future meeting.
