SAN JOSE CLEAN
ENERGY PILOT
PROGRAM OPTIONS
City Council
December 12, 2025
Lori Mitchell, Director
Kate Ziemba, Senior Environmental Program Manager
BACKGROUND
• In April 2025, City Council directed staff to return with options for a pilot program encouraging adoption of commercial electric leaf blowers. • Staff evaluated greenhouse gas reductions, market impact, staffing needs, and cost-effectiveness of:
1. Contractor Incentive Pilot Program – incentives for contractors completing their first heat pump installations.
2. Electric Leaf Blower Pilot Program – point-of-sale incentives for small landscaping businesses.
• Recommendation: develop contractor incentive pilot program, not an electric leaf blower pilot program
1 WHY CONTRACTOR INCENTIVES?
• Increase number of contractors able to support
residents through Bay Area Air District regulations
(2027-2031)
• Over 800 San José contractors hold relevant
licenses, yet only 72 participate in SJCE’s programs
• Contractors influence customer decisions
• Early-stage financial support helps contractors build expertise, reduce installation costs over time, and
diversify the market
2 WHY NOT ELECTRIC LEAF BLOWERS?
• Low impact, high cost: leaf blowers cause less than
0.1% of San José emissions. Would require staffing,
new systems for verification and dealer coordination,
and extensive multilingual education
• Electric leaf blowers are mobile; equipment may not be used in San José
• Performance, charging logistics, and productivity
concerns remain barriers for small businesses
3 PILOT PROGRAM COMPARISON
Expected impact
over 12 months
Budget Staff time
estimate
Lifetime
greenhouse gas
reductions
Contractor
incentive
Recommended
15 “new” heat pump
contractors
$100,000 0.07 full time
equivalent
1,466 metric tons of
carbon dioxide
Electric leaf
blower incentive
Not
recommended
75 electric leaf
blowers sold
$142,500* 0.25-0.5 full
time equivalent
174 metric tons of
carbon dioxide
*does not include staffing request
4 QUESTIONS?
• Recommendation: Adopt a
resolution approving the
development of a Contractor
Incentive Pilot Program (cost not
to exceed $100,000) to
encourage local contractors to
install electric heat pumps.
• Staff
• Lori Mitchell, Director
• Kate Ziemba, Senior
Environmental Program
Manager
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