Californians continue to face skyrocketing housing costs, the highest gas prices, and the second-highest utility costs in the nation. Along with the rising cost of food and other basic living essentials, hardworking families need our lawmakers and government agencies to make affordability a top priority.
The Trump Administration is recklessly pursuing costly tariffs adding to California’s cost of living crisis. His harmful trade policies and dramatic cuts to essential federal programs will further hurt Californians in the pocketbook.
While we can’t control Donald Trump’s irrational impulses, California’s leaders must prioritize affordability. There isn’t a day that goes by when elected officials talk about how expensive rent is, or how out of reach it is in Los Angeles and elsewhere in Southern California to buy a house. Decision-makers and regulators must evaluate and analyze the real-world impact of proposed legislation and regulations, conducting a thorough cost-benefit analysis to determine whether they do more harm than good. So far, they have failed miserably at connecting the dots.
Case in point is the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), which faces such an affordability test next month. The AQMD oversees large facilities such as oil refineries, cement plants, and warehouses, and sometimes issues regulations that directly impact homeowners, renters, and small businesses. The SCAQMD has proposed two rules, Rules 1111 and 1121, that would compel 17 million Californians to convert their natural gas heaters and air conditioners to all-electric models.
What they consider a simple policy change is anything but; it fails to meet both the moment and the affordability test. These amended rules now offer consumers a false choice between purchasing more expensive, all-electric heaters and air conditioners or paying an added fee to use natural gas appliances.
Unfortunately, AQMD has already shown an inclination to fail the affordability test. Last year, they implemented a similar regulation, Rule 1146, requiring large apartments and office buildings to stop heating their buildings and water with natural gas. Most alarming and for the first time, Proposed Amended Rules 1111 and 1121 extend these mandates directly to consumers in their homes.
These new regulations would be among the most expensive mandates ever imposed by the AQMD. They would target homeowners, renters, and small businesses, and cost $300 million annually, more than $7 billion over the lifespan of home furnaces and water heaters. That’s why 34 local governments and dozens of social justice groups across Southern California have united to oppose the rules.
In order to install electric heaters and air conditioners, older homes, apartment buildings, and other structures will most likely require expensive electric panel upgrades or full replacements, with costs ranging from $37,000 to $73,000 per unit.
Unfortunately for consumers, the cost of electrifying commonly used appliances will likely strain an already overtaxed electricity grid. While expensive upgrades are planned, Southern Californians are already paying some of the state’s highest electricity bills without any relief in sight.
We all know the cost of living is already too high, and regulations like these should not be implemented at a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet.
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AQMD’s effort to compel Californians to purchase all-electric furnaces and heaters, or pay a high fee for natural gas appliances, is short-sighted and ill-timed. California has failed to build the transmission lines necessary to meet the growing demand for electrification on our power grid, which will only worsen as regulators continue to push “all-electric” mandates.
We simply can’t continue to place the economic burden of tackling climate change on the shoulders of low-income and middle-class families struggling to afford living in California. Affordability is not a convenience; it is a necessity and must be prioritized. Rules 1111 and 1121 definitely deserve a NO vote.
Antonio Villaraigosa is a candidate for governor in 2026. He served as Los Angeles mayor from 2005 to 2013 and as speaker of the California Assembly from 1998 to 2000.
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