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Eagle County leaning toward making the ‘big move’ to electrification for new projects

County is working with other local governments for consistency in codes

Eagle County officials are working on a new set of building codes that will lean heavily into electrifying new construction.
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Local governments tend to update their building codes every three years or so. The next Eagle County code is likely to lean toward electrification for new projects.

The Eagle County Board of Commissioners recently reviewed a presentation about what that update might look like. That update may be similar to the requirements imposed by towns in the county.

County Resiliency Director Tori Franks told the commissioners that staff members have been working with their municipal counterparts.



Possible costs

According to a report by the Mozingo Code Group, here’s a look at the costs of making new construction electric-ready:

  • $300: Electric-ready infrastructure costs each for a water heater and stove.
  • Electric-ready infrascture for heating, ventilation and air condition for a. mixed fuel home could range from $467 to $1,453.
  • None of those estimates account for inflation.

Consultant Shaunna Mozingo said most of the county’s towns are participating in ways to bring their building codes into alignment with each other, with the towns of Gypsum and Basalt observing the process.

Mozingo said the group is recommending revised solar energy-ready and electric vehicle-ready requirements.

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But requiring new construction to be fully electric needs regulators to give the matter some thought. Mozinga said it’s important to determine if local utility companies are ready for additional demand on their systems.

Holy Cross Energy provides electric service to all of Eagle County with the exception of Minturn. That utility is working to have all of its electricity provided by clean or renewable sources. Holy Cross CEO Bryan Hanegan has said the utility is ready to develop additional clean sources to meet increased demand.

Mozinga said local government officials also need to decide whether to dive headlong into electrification, mandate “electric-ready” construction or settle on regulations somewhere between those points.

“All-electric is nice on paper,” Mozinga said. But, she added, her firm’s recommendations have been leaning toward an “electric-preferred” regulatory approach. Bringing utilities and local governments into alignment takes “strategic efforts,” she added.

Mozinga recommended assembling a stakeholder group before taking a fully-electric approach. That allows policymakers to “see all the questions everybody’s going to have,” she added.

But moving more toward more clean energy in the county is becoming more important.

County Sustainability Coordinator John Gitchell told the commissioners there’s recently been a “slight increase” in greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings make up about half of those emissions. The more new buildings use natural gas-fired appliances, little progress will be made.

The county needs “big moves,” Gitchell said. Moving to all-electric new construction is that big move, Gitchell added.

New construction will have to bear the brunt of future emissions reductions, Gitchell said, adding that retrofitting existing structures is both difficult and expensive.

But a cost evaluation in a report from Mozinga’s company indicates that there’s little to no cost penalty between gas and electric appliances for new construction.

The report states “the big savings come from avoiding the gas connection and gas piping costs.” State and utility rebates also play a role in the cost equation.

Commissioner Matt Scherr said Aspen is currently working on building codes. That town is trying to develop “mountain-specific” codes, Scherr said, since federal models and averages don’t work in mountain resort communities.

With staff asking for direction on what kinds of codes to write, the sentiment from commissioners leaned toward the all-electric option.

Franks said staff can probably outline a set of regulations that set a timeline to get the county to an electric-preferred code, with the option to mandate all-electric appliances in the following six to 12 months.

Since county staff is currently working on the 2024 budget, Franks said money can be dedicated to planning the code adoption. Expect to see some kind of plan in the next month.

But Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry cautioned everyone in the room to expect some resistance to whatever new regulations are created.

“No matter what, (new regulations) will be met with rancor and pushback,” from builders, Chandler-Henry said. “But once you adopt something, they’ll learn to accommodate it.”


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