Improvements to heat pumps and new technologies are making conditions for all-electric construction more attainable. Utah Clean Energy is pushing for an “electric-ready” initiative that will require new homes to install outlets for electric heating and appliances even if gas equipment is being installed, including electric-vehicle chargers. The Utah Home Builders Association opposes the idea and says that home buyers still want traditional gas heating that is found in 80% of Utah homes.

Builders also dispute the cost estimates coming from pro-electrification studies.

Utah Home Builders Association executive director Ross Ford says a lot of the code updates “are driven by the insulation industry” and that moving to the 2021 code would up costs without adding a commensurate amount of efficiency.

“You hit that point,” Ford says, “of diminishing returns.”

And with housing affordability in Utah at a crisis point, tacking on more expenses will price more people out of the market for new homes that are more energy-efficient than existing housing stock.