FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2025
Media Contact: Tryn Brown, tbrown@buildingdecarb.org, Building Decarbonization Coalition
California Governor Signs 4 Bills to Safeguard Californians in Extreme Heat
Sacramento, CA — Governor Newsom has signed a suite of bills that advance building decarbonization and protect Californians from extreme heat. The package of policies expands access to clean, efficient heat pump cooling, empowers local electrification planning, and establishes indoor temperature standards to safeguard residents’ health. By advancing building decarbonization through AB 39 (Zbur), SB 655 (Stern), AB 806 (Connolly) and SB 254 (Becker), California will also cut emissions from buildings—the state’s second largest source of climate pollution—and help mitigate climate change and extreme weather.
“In the face of numerous federal challenges, California is showing clear leadership and momentum in creating the clean energy future our communities deserve,” said Beckie Menten, California Director at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. “We applaud the Governor and Legislature for advancing critical policies that protect communities during worsening extreme heat. With worsening extreme heat, we have to act swiftly to equitably upgrade our homes and neighborhoods at scale to create safe, healthy, and affordable communities.”
Key bills signed include:
- AB 39 (Zbur): Requires cities and counties to develop local building electrification plans, expanding access to clean energy technologies like heat pumps and EV charging.
- SB 655 (Stern): Supports a first-in-nation framework to support maximum safe indoor temperature standards, ensuring Californians are protected from dangerous heat inside their homes.
- AB 806 (Connolly): Ensures mobile communities have access to cooling options during extreme heat events, offering life-saving relief to renters and vulnerable populations.
- SB 254 (Becker): Accelerates clean energy infrastructure with the goal of quickly and affordably supporting the state’s energy transition.
Heat pumps provide highly efficient cooling and can keep families safe and comfortable during increasingly frequent heat waves in California. By displacing heat to generate clean, cool, filtered air, heat pumps use less energy than conventional air conditioning systems. This can help lower household energy bills and create a more flexible grid.
Together, these bills position California as a national leader in making homes and buildings safer, healthier, and more resilient in the face of escalating climate threats. By accelerating the shift to clean electric technologies and guaranteeing protections for vulnerable residents, the legislation delivers on public safety and health, affordability, and emissions reductions.
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The Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) aligns critical stakeholders on a path to transform the nation’s buildings through clean energy, using policy, research, market development, and public engagement. The BDC and its members are charting the course to eliminate fossil fuels in buildings to improve people’s health, cut climate and air pollution, prioritize high-road jobs, and ensure that our communities are more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Learn more at www.buildingdecarb.org.