California is coming for your pools

Light bulbs, cars, air conditioners, cows and now your pool is becoming endangered by mental cases in the government.

“California is trying to electrify everything to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and it’s also trying to reduce power usage in the evenings because that’s when the state uses the most natural gas.

That’s why the California Energy Commission voted today to require residential pools to be able to shut off their electricity when the grid tells them to.

“We have a lot of pools in California,” Andrew McAllister, the commissioner in charge of the rulemaking, said in a YouTube video. “They’re wonderful. They use a lot of energy, and they waste a lot of energy.”

So if they do not price you out of your pool, they will not allow you to warm it or clean it!  What is next?

California is coming for your pools

By WES VENTEICHER and BLANCA BEGERT, Politico, 10/18/23  https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2023/10/18/california-is-coming-for-your-pools-00122374 

Then-President Lyndon B. Johnson and friends play in the pool circa 1968. | National Archives and Records Administration

POOL PARTY: California’s climate transition is coming to your swimming pool.

California is trying to electrify everything to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and it’s also trying to reduce power usage in the evenings because that’s when the state uses the most natural gas.

That’s why the California Energy Commission voted today to require residential pools to be able to shut off their electricity when the grid tells them to.

“We have a lot of pools in California,” Andrew McAllister, the commissioner in charge of the rulemaking, said in a YouTube video. “They’re wonderful. They use a lot of energy, and they waste a lot of energy.”

There are 1.25 million residential pools in California, and the new pumps are expected to reduce the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions by a half percent. Commercial and public pools are excluded for now because their pumps are bigger.

By 2033, the state could gain more than 500 megawatts of power by shutting off pool pumps — enough to power about a half million homes.

Household appliances use lots of power, and some use natural gas directly. They’ll all need to be electrified to reach net zero emissions by 2045. California is banking on “smart” electric appliances being part of the solution because they can automatically shift electricity use to daytime when there’s lots of solar power.

The CEC, which has authority over appliances’ energy use, is starting with pool pumps because they’re relatively convenient to update. Officials also anticipate consumers will be more comfortable giving up a little control over them than something like a refrigerator.

Here’s how it’ll work: Starting in September 2025, all pool pumps sold in California will have to be able to connect to the internet and operate by default from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone building a new swimming pool at home (hot tubs are excluded) or replacing their pump will have to install the new version, but will still be able to use the pump outside daytime hours.

The smart pumps cost about $70 more than regular ones, but users are expected to save $100 a month by buying power during the day, when it’s cheaper. They’ll also be able to earn money by signing up to have their pumps shut off when electricity demand is high.

Pool manufacturers asked the commission to phase in the rule over 4-5 years, instead of 2, but regulators said no. “There has been quite a bit of projection that this was coming, so I’m for now comfortable with where it’s landed,” McAllister said.

Expect pools to be the first of many consumer goods to be made more flexible. McAllister said the agency would next tackle water heaters, residential batteries and potentially electric vehicle chargers.