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California Charts the Path to Accelerate Heat Pump Adoption

The 2025 California Energy Code and other coordinated statewide efforts are accelerating the heat pump market to scale all-electric building adoption.

Sacramento, CA — California’s 2025 Energy Code went into effect on January 1, 2026, marking a decisive step in the state’s effort to modernize its buildings and accelerate the transition to clean energy. Adopted by the California Energy Commission (CEC), the updated code further encourages energy-efficient heat pumps for space and water heating and shifts energy use away from costly, peak demand times. It supports an electric-first approach across newly constructed residential buildings. The code also replaces certain end-of-life rooftop HVACs with high-efficiency systems, including heat pumps on stores, schools, offices, and libraries. For the 2028 Energy Code, the CEC will continue to advance space heating efficiency in commercial buildings, such as larger rooftop heat pumps. Buildings are California’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the Energy Code sends a clear signal that efficient, modern all-electric buildings are becoming the new standard.

With the Energy Code’s energy efficiency baseline and “electric-ready” requirements in place, builders have made substantial movement towards all-electric new construction as the most practical, efficient, and cost-effective option. Two years after California ended allowances for new gas line extensions, the new construction market has shifted significantly toward all-electric homes across all three major investor-owned utilities. The Energy Code reinforces this market transformation by helping ensure that new buildings are designed to deliver long-term comfort, affordability, and resilience benefits for California residents. We expect to see a similar transformation in commercial buildings through the new Energy Code that prior codes have achieved in residential buildings.

Heat pump adoption continued to climb statewide in 2024. This growth is paired with record levels of consumer confidence that signals the market is tipping: 9 out of 10 heat pump owners report they would recommend a heat pump to others. 

This momentum in the all-electric building landscape is reinforced by the coordinated efforts underway at the California Heat Pump Partnership (CAHPP), the first statewide public-private partnership to scale heat pump adoption by bringing together state agencies, large manufacturers, utilities, and major market actors in California’s clean energy economy. Now entering its third year, CAHPP aims to advance policies and market initiatives to accelerate the transition to clean, all-electric buildings, drive the heat pump market, and support the state’s goal of installing six million electric heat pumps by 2030. With the world’s fourth largest economy, California’s progress in scaling heat pump adoption—including the new Energy Code—sends a global market signal to drive the clean energy economy and helps ensure that heat pumps are more affordable, available, and accessible.   

This year, the Partnership will expand its impact by launching Phase II of its robust statewide consumer marketing campaign, an updated version of a Contractor Hub through The Switch Is On, and California’s inaugural Heat Pump Week from April 11-19. The week will feature community events and participation from retailers, contractors, and partners to increase consumer awareness, strengthen contractor capacity, and drive favorability for heat pumps and sales. Last year, the Partnership released its Blueprint, a first-of-its-kind large-scale plan developed through a public-private partnership outlining near-term strategies to address technical, market, and policy barriers to heat pump adoption. 

As California continues to make progress in the clean energy transition, CAHPP will deepen its engagement with market actors, contractors, and community partners, as well as track progress, and create the conditions for rapid heat pump adoption.

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