California’s clean energy transition is reshaping how we heat, cool, and power our homes. Across the state, homeowners are increasingly turning to cleaner, healthier electric appliances, with heat pumps rising as the preferred choice for heating and cooling because they deliver efficiency, energy bill savings, comfort, and climate resilience. But while product performance and customer demand are operating at an all-time high, one area is still lagging: permitting for heat pump installation.
If California wants to help save households money on heating and cooling while supporting its highly skilled workforce, we must modernize the installation process with statewide permitting reform to make it easier, faster, and cheaper for Californians to upgrade to heat pumps.
Heat pump permitting needs some fine-tuning
Right now, installing a heat pump can require navigating local permitting requirements and jumping through bureaucratic hoops, a process that can take weeks or even months. California has more than 600 jurisdictions with varying permit types, timelines, inspections, and required documentation.
These permitting complexities greatly extend project wait times—even for standard installations—and unpredictability can make it difficult for contractors to give residents accurate time and cost estimates. In some cities, heat pump permit fees may be as little as $50, while in others they can climb to thousands of dollars. Plus, homeowners associations may impose additional design, noise, or setback requirements that hinder projects. For homeowners, these challenges often cause unnecessary frustration when trying to upgrade to a clean, efficient heating and cooling system. And for contractors, complicated procedural requirements can mean hours of additional paperwork, unpredictable timelines, and postponed projects.
This patchwork of processes is a barrier to California’s clean energy transition. A coordinated and accessible approach is needed to make permitting easier, faster, and more consistent across the board.
A simple fix with statewide impact (and beyond!)
Streamlining heat pump permitting is one of the most practical, high-impact steps our policymakers can take to accelerate the clean energy transition while advancing energy affordability and supporting our highly skilled contractor workforce. In short, heat pump permitting should be fast, easy, and affordable for both contractors and homeowners.
A standardized and automated permitting system would offer clear, predictable pathways to easier heat pump installations for homeowners and contractors through:
- A faster process that mandates instant or expedited permit issuance for shorter installation timelines
- A single, straightforward permit for most projects
- Transparent and consistent fee structures with caps to improve affordability
Importantly, streamlining permitting by automating regulatory procedural compliance checks means increased efficiency and uniformity of reviews for every building department.
Symbium is demonstrating what’s possible for permitting
Some jurisdictions are already proving that a better system is within reach. The City of Bakersfield—a jurisdiction that suffers from some of the worst extreme heat in the state—recently became the first in the nation to launch instant, automated permitting across a wide range of clean energy projects using Symbium. Over 70 jurisdictions in California alone have already seen success streamlining permitting using this platform, and that number is growing.
Symbium’s instant permitting service for residential decarbonization projects like heat pumps, solar panels, energy storage, and reroofing allows homeowners and contractors to easily scope projects, submit permit applications, and manage approvals in one system at no cost to the city. Using Symbium’s technology, cities like Bakersfield, Lancaster, and Ventura have created an online system that allows contractors to configure projects, ensure compliance, and receive qualifying permits almost instantly. Uniquely, the regulatory analysis of the compliance checks performed on the system is available for applicants and staff to see in real-time as the project is getting scoped. This dramatically expedites compliance checks, reducing permit errors and application costs.
“In ten to fifteen minutes, you can go through a questionnaire and submit information, and then you’re done,” said Christian Clegg, Bakersfield City Manager. “You just go through the regular permitting process, but [Symbium] has made it better, faster, and smarter than it was before.”
By streamlining the permitting process, companies like Symbium are helping alleviate the bureaucratic burden for homeowners and contractors so they can move forward with clean energy upgrade projects confidently and efficiently. Crucially, automating the process does not come at the expense of safety or oversight when checking that installations meet minimum code requirements. “This isn’t about just doing things faster,” clarified Bakersfield’s Chief Electrical Inspector Pete Jackson. “We actually increased compliance checks with this process.”
The success in cities like Bakersfield proves that modernizing the permitting process is both possible and effective, providing ease and efficiency that all Californians deserve in their clean energy upgrades.
Heat pump benefits: affordability, comfort, and predictability
Heat pumps are one of the most energy-efficient home technologies on the market at three to five times the efficiency of their gas counterparts for space and water heating and cooling. This two-in-one appliance also provides greater comfort, cleaner air, and increased health and safety. Plus, the median household can save $260 per year when switching to a heat pump from a gas furnace. When paired with solar, battery storage, or demand-response capabilities, those savings can grow even more!
Contractors are on the frontlines of the shift to heat pumps, guiding homeowners through the installation process from start to finish. But today’s cumbersome permitting barriers are making their jobs harder than they need to be and ultimately restricting their ability to meet growing demand. Streamlined permitting would give contractors:
- Faster project turnaround times
- Predictable project scopes, labor capacity, and costs
- The ability to take on more projects
- A clearer path to scaling their business
We need statewide legislation now
California should urgently pass a bill to clear the way for the rapid deployment of heat pumps by mandating automated permitting. Modernizing the permitting process for highly efficient heat pumps is one of the most effective ways to accelerate the clean and affordable energy transition and support California’s skilled and trained workforce. It will also boost public health, safety, and climate resilience while helping the state meet its targets of deploying 6 million heat pumps by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.
California has already set a precedent by passing permitting reform for clean energy technologies including solar panels, battery storage, and EV charging stations. Extending those same reforms to heat pumps is the no-brainer next step to help ensure more Californians can access clean, efficient, and affordable heating and cooling in their homes.