A Path to Pollution-Free Buildings: - Meeting Xcel's 2030 Gas Decarbonization Goals

• Methane leaked from the delivery of gas to other local distribution companies (LDCs).4 To calculate the emissions associated with the use of gas by retail customers, we use data provided by Xcel in its most recent gas rate case.5 Specifically, the company reported gas sales to residential and retail commercial customers of 135,123,374 dekatherms (Dth) in 2016, and which reflects a 0.5% reduction. [...] Under the Policy Case, early retrofits start at 0.1% of residential and commercial stock of gas furnaces, boilers, and water heaters in 2023, escalating to 0.3% of gas space and water heating appliance stock annually by 2025, and 1.5% to 2% annually in the residential and commercial sector, respectively, by 2030. [...] In Maine, for example, contractors installed close to 30,000 heat pumps and 10,000 heat pump water heaters per year in 2021 and 2022.51 Scaled to the number of households in Xcel’s service territory, this is equivalent to nearly 70,000 heat pumps and 23,000 heat pump water heaters – close to the sales that we project for Xcel in 2030. [...] We focus on appliances deployed in the residential sector and pro-rate the incentive levels for multifamily households and commercial applications.66 The commercial sector contributes significant savings to the overall compliance pathway, but the incremental costs of commercial equipment, the overall emissions reductions, and the appropriate incentive level may be widely variable; modeling a stand. [...] The incremental capital cost of efficient electric equipment is based on the capital and installation cost of the electric appliance, and the cost of a comparable gas-fueled appliance.