Widespread electrification to improve affordability, reliability, and climate-compatible living.
Electrification of buildings, transportation, and industry is a core strategy for reducing local pollution and aligning communities with cleaner energy systems over time. Modern electric technologies—such as heat pumps, induction cooking, and a range of electric vehicles—can be more efficient, healthier, and more reliable than fossil-fuel-based systems.
However, the benefits of electrification do not appear automatically. Existing utility structures, market rules, and built environments may still favor high energy use and long travel distances. Without careful design, electrification can reinforce patterns that are costly for households and challenging for long-term resilience.
Wrinkle
Discussions often focus on switching fuels or purchasing large electric vehicles, while less attention is given to “avoiding” unnecessary energy use and travel demand. The Avoid–Shift–Improve (ASI) framework underscores that avoiding trips and wasteful energy use, and shifting to more efficient travel modes and technologies, can unlock major benefits before and alongside technology upgrades.
If electrification efforts center on large, energy-intensive buildings and heavy personal vehicles, communities risk new forms of infrastructure and financial lock-in. This can strain grids, increase costs, and miss opportunities to support more compact, people-first neighborhoods and mobility options.
Way forward
Efficient, beneficial electrification links the modernization of practices across technology, land use, mobility, and affordability. Key strategies include:
Prioritizing “avoid” and “people-first” solutions: Supporting compact, mixed-use neighborhoods, access-oriented transportation options, and efficient buildings so that energy and travel needs are reasonable from the start.
Reorienting markets and rules toward public benefit: Working with utilities, regulators, and local governments to design rates, incentives, and programs that promote efficient, reliable, and affordable electrification.
Elevating light, efficient electric mobility: Treating e-bikes, scooters, and small light vehicles as central to transportation strategies, rather than focusing solely on large electric cars.
Using policy to favor smaller, safer, and more space-efficient vehicles: Aligning infrastructure, parking, and incentives with vehicle types and services that support safety, neighborhood quality, and climate-compatible travel patterns.
Integrating building and transportation decisions: Coordinating building electrification, district-scale solutions, and transportation investments so that each reinforces the other in service of thriving communities.
Around the US, a number of cities have become leaders in this space through steps such as building electrification codes and incentives, community-scale clean energy initiatives, and support for e-bikes and multimodal travel as part of broader transportation demand management. These policies show how electrification, done thoughtfully, can improve everyday living, reduce local pollution, and strengthen resilience.
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