Latest news with #CaliforniaBuildingIndustryAssociation
Business Journals
09-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Faster connections: PG&E upgrades new-business process in South Bay and Central Coast
Our goal at PG&E is to help California continue to lead the way in economic growth, while maintaining a safe, reliable and clean energy system. These ambitions are on full display in and around Silicon Valley, where we're at the forefront of efforts to meet surging data center demand and shape the net-zero world of the future. To serve these regional aspirations, we've made huge progress in a key part of our business. Working collaboratively for two years with the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), our service planning and design team is connecting more new customers than ever to our electric grid. We set a goal in 2024 to connect 9,000 new-business customers throughout our service area. We delivered way beyond that: We completed a company-record 13,640 new-business connections last year. That means thousands of new homes, new and expanded businesses and clean energy projects across our service area. In PG&E's South Bay and Central Coast Region, we completed more than 3,400 new-business connections in 2024, including: 2,438 residential projects 406 commercial projects 273 electric vehicle charging points In San Jose, PG&E completed 25% more new-business jobs in 2024 than in 2023. We're on pace to improve connections even more in 2025. In the South Bay and Central Coast alone, new-business connections were up 15.4% year over year in the first quarter. Examples of projects we've energized in our region in the last 18 months include the Rivian Service and Demo Center on North King Road in San Jose; CityLine, a mixed-use development that is helping revive downtown Sunnyvale with new homes and stores; and a Sunnyvale accessory dwelling unit that models a new way to develop ADUs. We're thrilled to have helped bring these and other projects to life for our 1.16 million electric customers in the South Bay and Central Coast. We're also excited about how improved new-business connections will help us continue to meet San Jose's economic ambitions in 2025 and beyond. expand Data centers and a net-zero community In recent months, we've launched two major initiatives to serve Silicon Valley. Our cluster study shows how we plan to serve 5.5 gigawatts of new data center energy demand over the next decade. That demand will include 740 megawatts in and around Silicon Valley. Our second major initiative is our work on a net-zero community. The San Jose community will pair three data centers with up to 4,000 homes to help create a sustainable downtown. A district energy system will use excess heat from the data centers to heat and cool surrounding buildings. This initiative represents a bold, new approach to energy, housing and economic transformation. As a key infrastructure partner for California, PG&E is proud to play a pivotal role in this effort — integrating advances in data centers and AI with district energy to build more resilient, low-carbon communities. A fast and efficient new-business connections process will be key to serving these and other new customers. That's why we've spent more than two years talking to customers and industry groups to better understand the needs of our new-business customers. The feedback we've received is transforming our new-business processes. Our partnership with the CBIA is one great example. We signed a memorandum of understanding with the CBIA in July 2023 to improve how we work with builders and developers. In monthly meetings with CBIA members, we talk about how we're doing — and how we can keep improving. With the CBIA's help, we've set up systems to schedule construction work faster; escalate issues on complicated projects; and allow interim power connections where there are long lead times for new service. We also launched a New Business Program Management Office to focus full-time on improving our processes. Those efforts have paid off for our customers: The six-month design backlog of early 2023 fell to less than a month by the end of 2024. Improvements to the application process cut the number of required documents by more than half. We're also listening to developers in Silicon Valley. Our Developer Roundtables provided real estate leaders insight into how PG&E is improving our processes and meeting demand for energy. Our new Power Hour series, in collaboration with the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, aims to address key issues shaping the future of San Jose. We will continue to work with lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders to ensure we have the funding and accountability to connect more new customers. We're especially excited about opportunities to connect new customers in the South Bay and Central Coast to help the region sustain its vibrant growth trajectory. We look forward to working hand in hand with you as we strive to meet the economic and climate goals of California and its residents.
CBC
14-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
'A lot of love between California and British Columbia,' forests minister says on visit to Sacramento
Social Sharing British Columbia's forests minister has the support of the California Building Industry Association in fighting tariffs on Canadian lumber. Ravi Parmar spoke to reporters outside the California State Capitol building in Sacramento Friday morning, during a trade mission aimed at showing how tariffs will hurt consumers on both sides of the border. He said he heard in meetings with business and political groups that many people have been embarrassed by U.S. President Donald Trump's comments in support of tariffs and "they also recognize that the cost of doing business is going to go up with them." Parmar started his trip with a visit to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection where, he said, he discussed how members of the B.C. Wildfire Service supported recent firefighting efforts in Los Angeles, and how the two agencies can work together in the future. "There is a lot of love between California and British Columbia," he said. He also said he heard from many people that Americans support a friendly relationship with Canada, even if that sentiment is not shared by policies coming from the White House, citing both formal and informal conversations. In a joint statement released alongside Dan Dunmoyer, CEO of the California Building Industry Association, Parmar highlighted the benefits of cross-border trade in the lumber industry. "There's no doubt that our American partners need B.C.'s quality softwood products, and any tariff will simply increase the costs to build much-needed housing," the statement reads. "This is particularly true following the recent fires in Los Angeles. More than 16,000 homes and buildings were lost, an almost unimaginable tragedy. There are now predictions that housing and rental units will now become even more unaffordable." Those comments echo previous warnings from Dunmoyer who has said "there aren't really any alternatives" to Canadian lumber used for homebuilding in the state because about 80 per cent of Californian land is owned by the federal or state governments and can't be logged. Parmar told media that Trump's proposed tariffs and a scheduled jump in duties would up the tax on Canadian softwood lumber entering the U.S. from 14 per cent to between 50 and 55 per cent. Dunmoyer said his association is working alongside B.C. to ensure beneficial trade policies are understood by policy-makers, and that further levies will only increase building costs in the United States. Trump delayed announcing his plans on a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods earlier this month to March 4. Parmar's visit to California comes the same week that B.C. Premier David Eby, along with the premiers of Canada's other provinces and territories, visited Washington, D.C., to lobby the White House and other lawmakers.
CBC
06-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
California builders say few alternatives to Canadian timber exist, amid tariff threat
Social Sharing California homebuilders say they have few options but to keep buying Canadian lumber, even if it's hit with 25 per cent tariffs, as they rebuild thousands of homes destroyed by devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. Dan Dunmoyer, president of the California Building Industry Association, said Wednesday that "there aren't really alternatives" to Canadian lumber used for homebuilding in the state because about 80 per cent of Californian land is owned by the federal or state governments and can't be logged. Dunmoyer also said California lacks mills, environmental policies and supply chains that would allow a quick switch to local lumber production, and making those changes would likely take years. "We are very dependent on Canadian lumber," he said. "We like Canadian lumber. It's super high-quality, properly harvested for the environment. It's really quality material. "I understand from a president or a prime minister's perspective, it's all about jobs. It's all about making sure your people have an income and a lifestyle, the quality of life that's enjoyable.… But to try to do this over a weekend and say, 'Hey, we just want to put these big tariffs on any country without creating the economy within your own country,' [it] just means higher prices, full stop, full period." WATCH | Thousands displaced by Los Angeles-area fires: Frustration grows for tens of thousands displaced by L.A. wildfires 20 days ago Duration 2:02 More than a week into the wildfire crisis in Los Angeles, the frustration has grown for the tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders. Officials tell them it could be at least another week before they'll be allowed to check on their homes. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian exports, which would boost softwood lumber levies to almost 40 per cent when existing duties of 14.4 per cent are taken into account. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump said on Monday that the tariffs were on hold for 30 days. The forestry sector in British Columbia and across Canada has described the proposed tariffs as unnecessary and unwarranted, given that the United States currently meets only about 70 per cent of its homebuilding lumber needs domestically, while Canadian lumber to fill the gap. Trump said on Jan. 30 that the U.S. did not need foreign lumber and "we have all the trees you need." B.C. looks to Asian markets for growth Kurt Niquidet of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council said Trump's comments show a misunderstanding of the United State's reliance on Canadian wood. "There's no way they can replace the imports from Canada," he said in an interview with CBC News this week. WATCH | B.C. Lumber Trade Council says U.S. reliant on Canadian wood: Trump's claim the U.S. doesn't need Canadian lumber 'not true': B.C. Lumber Trade Council 3 days ago Duration 2:25 Kurt Niquidet, president of the B.C. Lumber Trade Council, says claims from U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. will be able to manufacture its own lumber to replace imports from Canada are false. He told BC Today host Michelle Eliot that the U.S. can only supply 70 per cent of its own lumber and would need to import the other 30 per cent from elsewhere. Canadian lumber is already subject to significant barriers in reaching U.S. markets in the form of longstanding duties on softwood lumber, which were raised last August and are set to rise again this year. The possibility of more tariffs on top of those fees have the industry once again looking to alternative trade markets in Asia. Currently, Niquidet said, roughly 70 per cent of his industry's exports go to the United States. B.C. forms new council On Wednesday, the B.C. provincial government announced it had formed a new council consisting of industry, labour, U.S.-relations expertise and government voices to advance the province's interests in the softwood lumber dispute. The province says the new council, which first met on Jan. 30, will provide "recommendations on steps B.C. can take to eliminate the 14.4 [per cent] softwood lumber duties." "The U.S. has imposed unjustified softwood lumber duties on Canada for years, and we anticipate that they will likely double before the end of this year," said B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar in a statement. "Bringing this team together, I am ready to throw the full weight of B.C. in the ring to fight these duties." In a later interview, Parmar said he had spoken to Dunmoyer's group, and that the discussion showed many people in the U.S. understand tariffs would mean higher housing costs. Parmar said he hoped to engage with lawmakers in California and North Carolina, a state hit hard by Hurricane Helene last fall, on the key role B.C. and Canadian lumber could play in rebuilding. "It's important for all Canadians and all British Columbians to know that ... when President Trump talks about not needing our trees, he's absolutely false," he said. WATCH | B.C. launches softwood lumber panel: B.C. creates softwood lumber advisory council amid tariff threat 8 hours ago Duration 12:03 Badly timed tariff threat Dunmoyer said even if the new tariffs were imposed, switching from Canadian wood to U.S. timber wouldn't be any cheaper for California homebuilders. He said the recent devastating wildfires in Southern California have accelerated already high demand for new housing, and Trump's tariff threat could not have come at a worse time for the industry. "The demand for housing before the fires was off the charts," Dunmoyer said. "We have projects where we have 35 homes available and 500 people in a waiting list, but that was before the fires. "With the fires, it just increases that demand substantially. And the other thing, which is somewhat intuitive, is it increases the demand immediately, so it's not like a ramp-up. You've got 15,000 displaced families who immediately need a home. And we don't produce that many homes on a monthly basis in California to meet that demand alone. "The timing is horrific. It's horrible. It's like, why would we add to the cost of housing when we desperately need more housing?" January's wildfires around Los Angeles destroyed or damaged as many as 19,000 homes and other structures.
