Starting in 2023, California building standards are to call for electric heat pump space heating to replace natural gas, but the rules fall short of requiring all-electric dwellings in new construction. 

The California Energy Commission (CEC) said the rules would be the first in the nation to make heat pumps the baseline technology in a building code. The proposed standards are scheduled to be adopted in August and effective Jan. 1, 2023. 

CEC estimated the lifetime savings is about $8.7 billion. More than 200 stakeholders have requested an all-electric building code. Some changes open the door wider for a full-scale electrification. 

The new standards would make “construction of electric buildings easier as consumers familiarize themselves with the benefits of efficient...