Petaluma Climate Action Commissioners Received California Energy Commission's Statewide Funding for "Switch is On" Campaign Supporting Widespread Home Electrification In California
The Fair Political Practices Commission is currently investigating Bartholomy for failing to publicly report his personal financial interests to the taxpayers while pushing decarbonization
Since passing a Climate Emergency Resolution in May 2019, the Council has established a Climate Action Commission, lent support to legislation to cut carbon emissions, and adopted climate-friendly ordinances such as a ban on polystyrene products.
At the Commission’s inception in 2019, Mr. Panama Bartholomy, founder of Building Decarbonization Coalition was appointed as a Commissioner.
While simultaneously serving on the Commission, Mr. Bartholomy’s Coalition received statewide funding through the California Energy Commission to roll out the nation’s largest building decarbonization consumer campaign, “The Switch is On”.
Initially, Center For Energy Efficiency And Renewable Technologies (CEERT) fiscally sponsored the Building Decarbonization Coalition, a broad alliance that is working to decarbonize California’s homes and workplaces, largely by substituting electricity for fossil fuels in space heating, water heating, cooking, dishwashing, and clothes drying. Coalition members include utilities, community-choice electricity providers, city governments, builders, real estate, manufacturers, and NGOs.
Within the same year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) allocated a combined $44 million in general market and equity-specific funds for electric heat pump water heater (HPWH) incentives through the Self-Generation Incentive Program. This funding is a major win for the decarbonization community because it will stimulate market transformation and illustrate the shifting public dialogue on HPWHs.
The Coalition performed a market assessment of production and custom home builders in California and what their preferences, opinions and needs are for building and promoting all-electric construction. From this assessment came recommendations for policies, programs, permitting and other solutions to support builders in creating all-electric developments.
In later years, Commissioner Bartholomy was joined by Commission Chair Ann Edminster, a fellow appointee and founder of Design AVEnues LLC.
Although Commission minutes indicate that Ms. Edminster was appointed as far back as 2021, or earlier, her Form 700 stated otherwise. She reported her assuming office date as August 1, 2022 to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).
Mr. Bartholomy appeared not to file any statements of economic interest. I reported him to the FPPC for potential conflicts of interest in public contracts and use of governmental position to influence decisions on August 28, 2024.
He later submitted an assuming office statement to the FPPC on September 9, 2024.
His Form 700 submitted just recently indicated a Commission assuming office start date of March 10, 2020. This was odd since Commission minutes indicate he assumed office in 2019.
City Council Meeting Minutes dated October 7, 2019 indicated: City Attorney Danly tallied the results and announced that Panama Bartholomy would serve a 4-year term expiring June 30, 2023 (Resolution 2019-163B N.C.S.); Ned Orrett would serve a 4-year term expiring June 30, 2023 (Resolution 2019 163C N.C.S.); and, Kendall Webster would serve a 3-year term expiring June 30, 2022 (Resolution 2019-163F N.C.S.).
In addition to Mr. Bartholomy, I reported Petaluma Councilman Brian Barnacle, former Consultant and current Managing Director of Strategy & Development for Building Decarbonization Coalition. I came across numerous conflicts of interest via various local agency positions regarding home electrification initiatives.
As of September 12, 2024, the FPPC opened a case on Mr. Bartholomy due to sufficient evidence of a conflict of interest. Separate sworn complaints have been submitted to the FPPC regarding Mr. Barnacle, but are currently under review.
On February 10, 2022, the Petaluma Argus Courier shared the following article:
Petaluma resident Ann Edminster said she “came out of the womb” practically knowing she had a connection to the environment. Now, she leads a recently-launched, statewide campaign to encourage Californians and Petalumans alike to do their part in the movement to curb climate change.
Edminster, who heads Design AVEnues LLC and is Chair of the Petaluma’s Climate Action Commission, has partnered with the Building Decarbonization Coalition to launch the “Switch Is On“ campaign statewide in an effort to help others switch from gas-powered to all-electric appliances.
“There’s so much to be concerned about in terms of climate change,” Edminster said in a phone interview. “It’s really important for people to understand that there are things they can do that actually are going to move things in the right direction.”
Moving to Petaluma more than two years ago from Pacifica where she grew up, she had her first run-in with human-caused environmental destruction in 1969, when roughly three million gallons of oil spilled into the Santa Barbara coastline. Edminster recalls jumping to action to aid in the cleanup efforts after oil had traveled up the coast.
“There were a whole bunch of us teenagers who helped clean up birds that arrived on our beach just saturated in oil from that spill,” Edminster said. “That was tragically memorable.”
Though she went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in architecture, the rise of what Edminster called a “green building movement” in the 1980s drew her to head back for a master’s degree at UC Berkeley in 1993.
“It still wasn’t really being called green building, but I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” Edminster said. “I was married and I had my own business, but I figured the only way I was really going to make this shift in my life is to go back to school and that would kind of force me to dedicate my time to this. So certainly that was a pivotal decision and definitely marked a turning point in my career.”
Since, Edminster has centered her everyday life on shaping the building industry to be more eco-friendly. In 2009 she founded the consultant business Design AVEnues LLC, which provides education, research and design coaching on sustainable homes and communities to a wide range of organizations. She’s worked with teams at Pacific Gas & Electric, the Bay Area Regional Energy Network, setting up curriculum and workshops for employees to help them become more aware of the clean energy options in the industry. And in the same year she founded her thriving business, she even published the award-winning book, “Energy Free: Homes for a Small Planet.“
Her career expanded once again in December when she helped launch a statewide campaign to encourage other Californians to join in the goal to work toward having a completely clean energy grid in the next two decades, alongside the Building Decarbonization Coalition, which helps connect building industry stakeholders with energy providers, environmental organizations and local governments to power homes with clean energy.
“The only way California – and the world at large – will meet its climate goals will be to electrify our homes and businesses,” Panama Bartholomy, executive director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition, said in a recent news release. “By sharing knowledge with everyday Americans and guiding them through the process of electrifying their homes, this campaign will catalyze the transformation to a cleaner, safer energy future.”
The “Switch Is On” campaign comes after a 2020 pilot program promoting electrification in the Bay Area and two years of market research, and strives to educate people about the value of swapping out gas-powered water heaters, dryers, stoves and furnaces for electric alternatives.
Edminster said that many people over time have had the misconception that installing electric appliances also comes with environmental costs. But because the state has decreased the burning of fossil fuels to power the electric grid, our energy use has become cleaner in recent decades as wind, solar and hydro energy becomes more prominent. California established a goal of using only electricity from renewable energy and other zero-carbon sources at its grid by 2045.
“I’m hoping that we can convey the impression that switching from natural gas to electric appliances has a myriad of benefits and it should be something people are eager to do and excited to do,” Edminster said. “Because not only is it great from a climate change perspective, but it creates a much healthier indoor environment.”
On January 5, 2022, the Building Decarbonization Coalition issued the following press release:
Statement can be attributed to Lisa Dix – Director, Building Decarbonization Coalition (New York):
“The Building Decarbonization Coalition is very hopeful about the critically important benchmarks the Governor outlined in her address. We applaud the aggressive commitments in two million all-electric, decarbonized homes by 2030, new investments in decarbonized affordable housing and a first in the nation program to decarbonize and electrify hundreds of schools statewide. These commitments are vital first steps in our road to creating thousands of high quality jobs decarbonizing all public, commercial, residential buildings in the State of New York. We look forward to working with the Governor to secure concrete investments from the State to ensure success.”
Today, the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) and its partners launched the “Switch Is On“ campaign to help Californians switch from gas-powered to all-electric appliances. This campaign is the first of its kind in California, and hopes to serve as a template for similar programs across the nation. An all-electric home reduces health risks, contributes to a more resilient energy system, supports the state’s decarbonization goals, and in many cases can save money for homeowners.
“The only way California — and the world at large — will meet its climate goals will be to electrify our homes and businesses,” said Panama Bartholomy, Executive Director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition. “Modern electric appliances are cleaner, more efficient, and simply better than gas-powered alternatives. By sharing knowledge with everyday Americans and guiding them through the process of electrifying their homes, this campaign will catalyze the transformation to a cleaner, safer energy future.”
In addition to promoting regional and statewide incentives for electrification, the “Switch Is On“ campaign will educate, inspire, and support Californians who want to join the movement to electrify their homes. People can visit Switchison.org to speak one-on-one with home electrification advisors, find vetted contractors, get information on incentives and rebates, and find additional resources about home electrification.
The campaign’s statewide launch comes after a 2020 pilot program promoting electrification in the Bay Area and two years of market research. Through creative media, a grassroots ambassador program and a robust website, the campaign educates people about the value of swapping out gas-powered water heaters, dryers, cooktops and furnaces for electric alternatives, and provides information on a variety of incentives to support the switch. The campaign also educates homeowners about clean energy initiatives such as energy efficiency and weatherization, and related technologies like home solar and battery storage.
“The need to electrify everything is one of the most important climate narratives of our lifetime, and not enough people are talking about it,” said Saul Griffith, Co-founder of Rewiring America and author of Electrify! “The Switch Is On campaign is a needed, timely and critical effort that will educate Californians about how they can electrify their lives with technology that already exists, and save money on their bills without sacrificing their lifestyles. It turns out that we can all do our part to address climate change by improving our personal infrastructure. We are excited to help the Building Decarbonization Coalition build this movement, and to promote the campaign’s success.”
“I couldn’t be happier living in a decarbonized home,” said Ann Edminster of Petaluma. “The Switch Is On campaign will help Californians understand the benefits of swapping out their gas appliances for electric ones that are better for their health, convenience, and the environment. I have no hesitation recommending electrification to all my friends, neighbors, and family.”
The campaign is supported by TECH Clean California, a statewide initiative under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), designed to accelerate the adoption of clean space and water heating technology by providing incentives and training to support contractors electrifying homes. Additional campaign partners include Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN), East Bay Community Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), City of Santa Monica, City of San Jose, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Central Coast Community Energy, Marin Clean Energy, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), and the Tri-Country Regional Energy Network (3C-REN).
The Switch Is On campaign can be found at www.switchison.org. All Californians — including homeowners, renters and contractors — are encouraged to go to the website to learn more and get support in electrifying their homes. Those who have already begun their electrification journey can join the campaign’s ambassador program here.
About The Building Decarbonization Coalition
Launched in 2018, the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) forges public-private partnerships among government authorities, utilities, manufacturers, builders and other vital sector stakeholders. These diverse and dynamic partnerships drive the development of clean energy powered, zero-emission homes, commercial Buildings and communities.
As Petaluma appointed elected officials are being scrutinized by the FPPC for non-transparency and potential malfeasance, can the City be trusted? Is Mr. Barnacle who you wish to vote for in the upcoming, November 5 General Election?
“The white liberal is the worst enemy to America, and the worst enemy to the black man.”
— Malcolm X
Great work on exposing this drive for electricity and the passionate people who believe they know what’s right.
I would like to read an article on what detrimental effects an all electric society could deliver on the environment and human health and development.