Electricity can be cheaper than gas

Mr. Whitehair,

I agree that heat pump water heaters and HVAC do cost lest to operate than similar gas types but unfortunately you paint with a wide brush.

I considered doing the same last year but the pencilled out figures did not pan out for me. Upgrades needed for the electrical and plumbing along with fees and permits and equipment costs would have been in the 15 to 20K range after rebates. Hardly a good investment for someone pushing closer to 80 than 60. The project may not even be completed before I am pushing up daisies! Furthermore, the next owner of the house will probably start over and remodel to their specs and change whatever I do anyway.

Mr. Whitehair - thanks for your letter, but you still don’t address the fact that at least half our electricity comes from fossil-fuel burning power plants. You may be happy there are fewer emissions in your backyard but that doesn’t make a whit of difference to the Earth. As for rebates and tax credits, this is just another case of the poor subsidizing the rich, because not everyone has the up-front money to convert. Renters will likely need to “donate” to the rich at least twice: first via rebates to the rich, and second via higher rental costs due to the landlord upgrading.

Ultimately, your electrification efforts amount to little and effectively do nothing to save the planet, especially since China, India, developing nations, and even developed nations are increasing their use of fossil fuels because their “green” electricity capacity isn't enough. Coal use increased 1.4% in 2023, surprising 8.5 billion tonnes. Natural gas use continues to provide more than half the electricity or heating in California, as well as the USA. And let’s not forget the COP attendees who took over 400 private jets to attend a conference to of all things, lecture us on carbon emissions while they burn carbon to their hearts’ desires.

Perhaps, as my friends Taffy and Ray have touched upon, you can provide the numbers for the total cost to install your heat pump water heater and heat pump heating and cooling unit. Or at least provide the time frame for your return on investment. Of course, you’ll need to factor in the additional electricity you’re using now, requiring more natural gas burning to supply your increased demands.

Interesting rebuttal by Mr. Whitehair, his real name BTW. He focused mostly on the reduction of CO2 emissions but ignores the facts stated by others on this forum. Rebates may be offsetting the out-of-pockets costs but some are not available until next year, if ever. Also, once one is committed to a single source of heating energy, a provider such as PCE, has you hooked and can charge with impunity. Right now their rates are indexed to the PG&E rates but who knows what these community providers will do in the future. At least PG&E is still subject to regulatory oversight but in the case of PCE that oversight is relegated to generally politically-driven city councils. As an example, Santa Clara's municipal utility is now subsidizing the Levi's stadium. Mr. Whitehair's main omission actually deals with the completely unknown future cost of grid and distribution facilities that may not be capable of delivering the green energy that Mr. Whitehead savors due to capacity constraints. Good luck!