Leaving homeowners in limbo for months more on whether they will fact costly upgrades, a deeply divided Bay Area Air District board of directors on Wednesday decided to move forward with a final vote in October on sweeping — and increasingly controversial — rules that would ban the sale and installation of new natural gas water heaters in homes starting Jan. 1.
At a meeting in San Francisco, the directors, most of whom are elected city councilmembers, county supervisors and other local officials, weighed the air pollution benefits from requiring homeowners to replace traditional water heaters with electric heat pump models when they break or need to be replaced with the added costs in an era when polls show public concern over rising prices for food, housing, and gasoline is soaring.
The air district staff estimates it will cost an average of $3,500 more for homeowners to buy and install an electric heat pump water heater instead of a traditional gas-powered one…