SAN DIEGO — Local environmentalists are criticizing San Diego for retreating on a 2-year-old policy that requires all new and significantly renovated city buildings to rely entirely on electricity instead of gas.

The policy, which aims to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, had been mandatory until the City Council amended it Monday to allow exemptions for the first time.

The policy change comes one week after city finance officials announced that options under consideration to reduce large projected budget deficits include scaling back the electrification of city buildings and vehicles.

In addition to allowing exemptions on building electrification, the changes soften city requirements on electric vehicle charging stations and how businesses leasing city buildings must handle renovations.

“We are concerned significant portions of the policy are being walked back despite little city progress on legally binding climate action plan goals,” said Serena Pelka, a policy advocate for Climate Action Campaign.

Kelly Lyndon, a member of the city’s Climate Advisory Board and co-chair of the San Diego Building Electrification Coalition, criticized the language in the policy amendments before the council approved them 7-0.

“The proposed exception language has no stated bounds and insufficient oversight, and is about to become a giant loophole,” Lyndon said.

In response to the criticism, council President Joe LaCava successfully amended the language to add a new requirement that any exemptions include a plan to electrify and a timeline for accomplishing that.

LaCava’s amendment also requires the proposed timeline for electrification to comply with the goals and schedules in the city’s climate action plan.

The plan requires a reduction in the city’s net greenhouse-gas emissions to zero by 2035.

LaCava also added language that clarifies the council’s position on exemptions, which the city is calling “exceptions” instead.

“It is the expectation of this council that exceptions are rare and well-documented,” the new language says.

Officials from the city’s Sustainability and Mobility Department characterized the new exemptions policy and other changes as “minor.” They explained the reasons for all the changes except the new exemptions.

Lindsey Hawes, deputy director of the department, said it will avoid confusion to scale back the requirement for parking spots with vehicle chargers at new and renovated buildings.

That’s because a state policy called CALGreen only requires 30% of those spots to have chargers, while the city’s policy had required 50%. The changes approved Monday lower that to 30%.

The change comes just as the city’s new electric charging station partner, EVerged of Virginia, begins installing the first of hundreds of new citywide stations at libraries and recreation centers.

The changes also allow the city’s General Services Department to avoid a requirement in the policy to use “energy modeling” in determining how to handle electrification required in major renovations.

Because staff at General Services doesn’t have the ability to do such modeling, they will be allowed to meet the policy’s requirement with alternative compliance based on a points system. Hawes said officials expect that exemption to be used about three times per year.

The changes also soften the requirements on businesses and nonprofits leasing city buildings, eliminating a requirement that they electrify the facilities they are leasing if they complete a major renovation.

Hawes stressed that lessees will still be prohibited from adding any new system that relies on fossil fuels, including gas.

“This change will remove significant, unanticipated cost impacts for lessees and the city,” Hawes said.

Hawes noted that the city has aggressively implemented the policy since the council approved it in 2022.

Officials have reviewed more than 50 projects for compliance, resulting in 28 projects with energy efficiency improvements, 25 with on-site renewable energy, 12 with on-site energy storage and 16 with electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

In addition, the policy has been incorporated into more than 75 leases.

The city has more than 400 buildings. The policy also aims to electrify all 4,800 city vehicles. Only about 315 are electric so far.

LaCava praised the progress, especially the work with lessees.

“This was a pretty big pivot by the city,” he said.

It makes sense to amend new city policies when it becomes clear they are having unanticipated consequences, he said.

“Council policies are not set in stone,” he said.

But critics say San Diego’s policy decisions on climate change are crucial, not necessarily because of the impact on greenhouse gas emissions, but because the city is setting an example for government and businesses across the region.

When the policy was adopted, Mayor Todd Gloria said leadership was a key element.

“We are leading by example and building local expertise for broader decarbonization efforts,” he said.

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