By CHARLOTTE FALL
Resilient Palisades hosted a virtual meeting on Electrify the Rebuild in partnership with Rewiring America, LADWP, and Zachary Swank of Boulder County’s Office of Sustainability on October 17. The discussion focused on how rebuilding all-electric can make homes safer, healthier, and more affordable, helping residents move from what was lost toward a stronger, cleaner future.
Resilient Palisades Program Coordinator Charlotte Fall opened by acknowledging the emotional and practical challenges of rebuilding after the January fires:
“None of us asked to become homebuilders this year. But we can choose to rebuild in a way that makes our homes safer, our air cleaner, and our energy bills lower.”
Rahul Young, Head of Community Engagement at Rewiring America, offered a grounded walkthrough of home electrification. Heat pumps for heating and cooling, heat-pump water heaters, induction cooktops, and electric vehicles paired with rooftop solar and battery storage.
“Our goal isn’t to twist arms,” Young said. “It’s to give households the tools and confidence to make choices that improve their comfort, safety, and long-term savings.”
From Colorado, Zac Swank shared lessons from the Marshall Fire recovery, where 70% of homeowners rebuilt above energy code and 21% built all-electric. He explained that with early design planning, costs for electric homes were comparable to gas builds, while providing major benefits for comfort, indoor air quality, and wildfire resilience.
“A simpler, tighter home is a cheaper and stronger home,” Swank said. “More corners mean more dollars.”
LADWP representative Maychelle Yee outlined incentive pathways available through HOME-LA for fire-impacted households that included:
- Up to $3,000 for heat-pump HVAC systems
- Rebates for heat-pump water heaters, induction cooktops and dryers
- Up to $1,000 for Level-2 EV chargers
- Stacking opportunities with the California Electric Homes Program (Cal-EHP) and federal tax credits
Yee emphasized that these programs are funded by ratepayers: “You’ve already paid into these programs through your bills—so take advantage of the money you’ve invested in yourself.”
Questions also turned to infrastructure and grid readiness. LADWP confirmed upgrades are underway to expand local capacity, transitioning from 4.8 kV to 12 kV systems to support the all-electric rebuild.
Officials said details on undergrounding coordination and connection-fee relief are being discussed and will be addressed in a follow-up public webinar in November.
The event closed with a reminder that electrification is as much about community as it is about technology.
“Sometimes it feels like we’re all living between two realities, the one we lost and the one we’re still building,” said Resilient member Sara Marti. “But that’s where transformation happens.”
Watch the webinar: click here.
Upcoming webiners hosted by Resilient Palisades:
- October 25: Wildfire Rebuilding Certificate Training & Resource Expo — co-hosted with the U.S. Green Building Council and LADWP and the Department of Angels in Santa Monica.
- November 15: Community Rebuilding Celebration — spotlighting all-electric design, rebates, and local vendors.
For resources and upcoming event details, visit ResilientPalisades.org or follow @ResilientPalisades on social media.
It’s a nice idea, but LADWP does not have a history of providing reliable electric service. Three years ago, the power failed in the Huntington during every single rain storm. The cause was never explained, but one suspects underinvestment and deferred maintenance in the underground system. The longest outage was over 48 hours when the temperature outside was in the 40s. It was not a lot of fun living in the house at that temperature. In an all electric home, we would have had no hot water and no hot food.
During the same 35 years, I cannot recall a single interruption in natural gas service.
After the fire, SoCalGas called on their sister utilities for assistance and got the gas system back on well before electrical service was restored.
So, forgive me if I stay with the more reliable utility and not wholly commit to an all-electric home supplied by the LADWP.
Electric homes, as any housewife from the 1950s that survived them, have to be backed up by generators. No juice, no heat. Our gas oven and fireplace could keep our 3500 sq ft house habitable with hot food and beverages. PS CAGW does not exist.
Electrifying our homes is a great idea. To achieve this, we need:
1) LA City to ensure they can deliver the needed power
2) Support to install solar and battery backup
3) Support to install in-ground heat pumps
4 Waiving of al Cityl rebuilding fees in 90272 for the next 5 years
When I spoke ot LADWP they said that they could not support a fully electrified 90272.