_______________________________
Kathleen Ward
Mayor, City of San Clemente
City Hall ● 910 Calle Negocio, San Clemente CA 92673 ● (949) 361-8200 ● www.san-clemente.org Attachment 2
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March 10, 2025
Honorable Vanessa Delgado, Chair
South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board 21865 Copley Drive
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Dear Chair Delgado and Governing Board Members,
On behalf of San Clemente residents, business owners, churches, schools, and civic organizations, the City of San Clemente opposes South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Proposed Amended Rules 1111 and 1121 and strongly urges you to thoroughly engage with the 17 million stakeholders who would be significantly impacted by these draconian measures.
San Clemente has several concerns regarding the impact of these rules. Foremost among them is the issue of affordability and lack of consumer choice when replacing gas furnaces and water heaters with zero-emission appliances. Hot water and heating are essential human needs. When residents’ appliances break down and need replacement, immediate service is paramount. Replacing a gas appliance with an electrical one will require far more intrusive electrical and plumbing upgrades and even physical renovations costing tens of thousands of dollars more – a burden many families and business owners cannot bear. Furthermore, banning the use of natural gas-powered furnaces and water heaters in new construction would add to the already high cost of living in the region. Most importantly, it is unclear whether there will be any measurable improvement to the regions air quality and certainly not enough given the exorbitant cost to the community.
In addition to the costs to businesses and consumers, transitioning to all-electric water heaters and furnaces would increase the demand on California's already inconsistent and delicate power grid. Adding millions of new electric water heaters and furnaces would require a substantial amount of power and increase the potential for brownouts or outages. Many residents in SCAQMD’s jurisdiction have been impacted by Public Safety Power Shutoffs and have lost their electricity for multiple days during critical fire weather conditions; a prime example of why adding more load to the current grid is untenable. The City strongly opposes any efforts to add more load demand until the necessary energy generation and fire safe electrical transmission capacity is constructed and in service.
Our City Council shares your commitment to provide clean air and water and other quality of life benefits that draw and retain the residents and business owners who live here. However, the Proposed Amended Rules 1111 and 1121 will deliver consequences that will lead to a variety of negative impacts, impacting jobs and increasing the cost of living in our region while providing limited measurable air quality benefits.
For these reasons, the City of San Clemente opposes Proposed Amended Rules 1111 and 1121, including their current concept as discussed at the 7th Working Group Meeting on February 13, 2025. We request that the AQMD Governing Board not proceed with these rules, and instead, we urge the Board to initiate a comprehensive fact-finding process that gathers public comments and addresses concerns related to costs, timing, technology, and the availability of potential incentives.
Sincerely,
Steve Knoblock
Mayor, City of San Clemente
CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF INCORPORATION
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
Steve Knoblock
Mayor
Mark Enmeier
Mayor Pro Tem
Victor Cabral
Rick Loeffler
Zhen Wu
CITY MANAGER
Andy Hall
910 Calle Negocio
San Clemente, CA 92673
Phone: (949) 361-8200
“The Spanish Village
by the Sea”