|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Mountain View is doubling the amount of money available to provide $2,000 rebates for residents who replace their gas water heaters with more environmentally friendly electric heat pumps.
The City Council voted unanimously at a Jan. 27 meeting to allocate $250,001 to the program. The city’s previous allocation of $249,999 was exhausted in October 2025 after 126 households accepted the rebate offer, according to a council report.
The campaign, which originally launched on Earth Day last year, is a partnership between the city and Silicon Valley Clean Energy, which has been offering its own $2,000 rebate since 2019. Taken together, Mountain View residents can receive a combined $4,000 rebate.
“It’s exciting that so many people have changed their water heaters to heat pumps that the program has run out of money,” Councilmember Pat Showalter said at last week’s City Council meeting. “That is really a great accomplishment.”
Natural gas used in buildings accounts for 22% of Mountain View’s greenhouse gas emissions, the council report said. The rebate program aims to combat climate change by incentivizing residents to reduce their natural gas consumption.
“Among the things the city can do, water heater incentives are the No. 1 best use of tax money,” said Bruce Karney, a board member of Carbon Free Mountain View, a local climate advocacy organization. “Once a water heater is installed in Mountain View, it is going to stay in Mountain View for the rest of its life.”
The incentives are being offered ahead of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s ban on the sale of gas-fired water heaters, which will take effect next year.
“This groundbreaking regulation will phase out the most polluting appliances in homes and businesses to protect Bay Area residents from the harmful air pollution they cause,” Philip Fine, executive officer of the Air District, said in a press release announcing the ban.
The city’s funding for the water heater rebates is coming from its sustainability fund, according to the council report.
The rebates will continue until the funding runs out. Depending on the amount of interest in the program, city staff may lower the rebate amount to ensure they can be offered through Earth Day in April.
