‘Go Electric DMV’ Coaches Help Electrify Homes For Host of Reasons Beyond Climate Change

Speaking of clean energy… 

In the United States, what percentage of “energy-related emissions” would you guess stem from “consumer decisions?” 

According to the New York Times, a Department of Energy (DOE) Study showed the answer to be close to 50 percent.

The DOE study was conducted by one of the founders of Rewiring America (RA), a nonprofit group founded in 2020 and “dedicated to electrifying homes and businesses around the country.” RA’s mission is to “convert the 1 billion fossil-fuel-powered machines in the country to electric alternatives.” 

By reducing fossil-fuel-based energy use and its harmful greenhouse gas emissions, electrification advocates argue not only that climate impacts will be reduced, but a host of other benefits – including cost-saving, cleaner/safer air and homes, equipment modernization, consumer convenience, increased energy efficiency for air and water heating/cooling, and less dependence on environmentally harmful fracking for natural gas – will be gained.

For this article, The Falls Church Independent interviewed two founders of “Go Electric DMV,” David Stile and Bob Soule, at a Mary Riley Styles Public Library drop-in event Jan. 23 for those considering making their homes “cleaner and greener for 2025.” Attendees were invited to “get free help from a Falls Church electrification coach from GoElectricDMV.org.” The group’s 16 Electric Coaches, several of whom were on hand at the event, were certified by RA. 

Home Electrification: View from The National Level

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, invested “at least $370 billion to provide rebates and tax incentives” for “clean energy projects, including electrifying American homes and businesses,” the Times reported. Many Americans are now taking advantage of such incentives to make personal decisions to electrify their homes, cars, and appliances.

With such a high demand from individuals for clean energy alternatives, RA has now established a “growing network of home-electrification coaches who are appearing across the country like blazes on a trail,” according to Canary Media. The volunteers, trained by nonprofit Rewiring America not only raise local awareness about home clean-energy solutions but also help neighbors navigate the sometimes daunting process of switching to heat pumps, heat-pump water heaters, induction stoves, EVs, and more.” 

“Rewiring America’s coaching network is 125 coaches strong, with another 175 set to graduate from their 4-week, 8-hour-plus online training today,” the article continues. “The coaches reside in 24 states, from California and Colorado to New York and South Carolina. Collectively, they’ve completed 32 consultations since the program began in October, said Madeline Gryll, senior director of audience at the nonprofit.”

At The Falls Church Level

Locally, Go Electric DMV – an all-volunteer group of around 16 Electric Coaches from RA’s certification program – formed just months ago and have yet to file for nonprofit status. “We're building a healthier, cleaner future for the DMV,” the group says. “Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of clean, affordable electric energy.” They say,

• We believe electrifying homes is key to achieving this goal.
• Our electric coaches* provide free guidance to help you switch from fossil fuels to clean energy like solar power. We'll assist you in transitioning to efficient electric appliances such as heat pumps, water heaters, and induction cooktops, while also promoting electric vehicle adoption.
• Our vision is to empower communities to electrify everything and power their homes and lives with renewable energy.
• Together, let's power a sustainable future together.

*All of our coaches have received Rewiring America’s Electric Coach Certification of Knowledge and have firsthand experience electrifying their own homes.

On the evening of Jan. 23, several Electric Coaches from Go Electric DMV were on-hand to meet drop-in visitors at Mary Riley Styles Public Library in Falls Church. The coaches had all “reduced fossil fuel use in their Falls Church homes thanks to heat pumps, solar panels, insulation, induction ranges, electric vehicles, home energy audits, and more.” 

And they helped instruct attendees on: 

• Benefits of converting gas-powered home devices to cleaner, quieter electrical devices;
• Wide range of projects that can enhance your home's comfort;
• Next steps for your home's electrification journey;
• Available tax benefits for electrical projects.

Interviews with Go Electric DMV Co-Founders Bob Soule and David Stile

Co-Founder David Stile, a mechanical engineer by training and a director of customer success for the last 10 years, elaborated on the neighborly aspect of the Electric Coaches gathered at Mary Riley Styles. “At this point, we are purely just a band of volunteers who are trying to organize as best as we can. We’re still in the early days… Go Electric DMV is a group of fellow neighbors who’ve been interested in electrifying our own homes and for some of us it’s kind of about climate and for others it’s about wanting the latest and greatest technologies on the market. And we’ve been kind of going through that transition on our own and working through all the different challenges and barriers that you face,” he said. And after being certified by RA, “some of us who’ve gone through the training decided to band together to provide this offering… in our little neck of the woods here in Falls Church,” and “in the broader D.C. region.”

Stile emphasized that the Electric Coaches are careful never to overstep their own authority and to always remind homeowners to consult with the experts. “At this point it’s fairly informal, it’s just a community-based group just doing what we can to help,” he said. “We do make clear that we are not a substitute for professional advice. We absolutely defer to the professionals, the contractors, when you’re doing some of these complex projects, like HVAC projects, etc."

“The organization started to form in the June or July timeframe of [2024] and we’re just doing what we can at this point to get some broader awareness out there in the community,” Stile continued. “And so if people kind of catch wind of what we do and attend our events, then great. If they just want to check out our website and get some content, anything we can do get people thinking about this, because the reality is that with a lot of these types of projects – not all of them – but many of them, you have to plan.” 

“If you wait until the last second and one of these appliances in your home breaks, whether it’s HVAC or your hot water heater, these have expected life spans, so you should go check out your inspection report," Stile continued. “And you should ask, ‘How many years do I have left [with this appliance]?’ And start talking to contractors and thinking about what’s involved. That way, when it does break, you’re in a solid position to put in what you actually really want for your home. It’s not just about climate with these solutions. It’s also just as much about people having solutions that have better comfort for their homes, make their homes healthier, make their homes safer, and in general, some of them just provide greater convenience with their new features, if it happens to be a next-generation type of technology.”

“We also don’t push just getting rid of what you have today and going and replacing it,” Stile emphasized. “It’s really about when things are at end-of-life. Just to have everyone throw things out and buy new doesn’t make sense. But, when somebody buys a new device they’re committed to whatever emissions that thing is going to produce for the rest of the life of that device. And so it’s really all about trying to avoid future-committed emissions and just having people end up with a higher value, better quality home and experience.” 

How did Stiles get involved in the electrification movement? “For me personally, I’m on the City of Falls Church’s Environmental Sustainability Council, so that’s helped me learn more and more about this space. And if you look at the recent site that’s been posted by the City, it promotes things like heat pumps as part of the Clean Energy Transition and to get the emissions down to meet our objectives as part of the Community Action Plan.”

“So, I became aware of things like heat pumps. And how they’re something to be considered in place of a fossil-fuel-based natural gas furnace. I started thinking through that and I was nervous,” Stile said. “‘Is the house going to be warm? What happens when it gets cold? Is it going to be crazy expensive or reasonable? .... So, there were all these questions swirling around and all these technical details, because I’m a somewhat technical person, and I reached out to the Falls Church Climate Network…. And there just happened to be someone who was a guide for Rewiring America’s coaching course that connected me with him. He helped me with that process of feeling confident in my decision. How I might find the contractors who were willing to do this kind of work. And from there, he encouraged me, because he saw that I was so interested, to take the course. And I did. But then I asked, ‘Now what?’ I could just go talk to my neighbor about it. And that’s awesome, but, 'Can we do something slightly greater in scale?' But, it’s still highly personal. It’s one-on-one interactions we tend to do. It’s an ongoing relationship and a fairly large time investment.”

So how did co-founders Bob Soule and David Stile meet? “There’s actually a Canary Media article about our coaching,” Stile said. Bob was a Guide for David when he took RA’s certification course. “That’s how I met the person who leads, and the person who co-founded this with me, and that’s Bob Soule. And he’s awesome!”

How important is the climate change issue to Stile? “I think it’s fair to say that climate change is on my mind,” he said. “When you look at the news and the trends (because climate is a trend not a particular moment in time) … like the wildfires in Los Angeles, those still might have occurred but it’s almost like [climate change] could be an accelerator. So you see a greater frequency of these things happening, floods and wildfires. So that weighs on me.”

“I do feel some sense of urgency. I have two young children, a toddler and a five-year-old – I live in Falls Church, yes – and I would just like to do my part. When my kids look at me a number of years from now and say, ‘Well, what did you do?’ – .... that I can say, ‘I tried my best to become educated and to make informed decisions.’ And the beauty about Go Electric DMV is that it’s not just a climate thing. These things will benefit you. All those things I said, comfort, efficiency, there are reasons to do this even if you don’t care about climate. In many of these instances it’s a better way to go.”

Asked if he drives an electric car, Stile said he mostly walks and uses the family’s e-bike. “I ride a cargo e-bike. I do have a vehicle. It’s an older vehicle and I drive so few miles. There’s actually a picture of me riding [the carge e-bike]. [Points]. But, I drive so few miles that it doesn’t necessarily warrant me getting rid of that and just buying an EV. But, from what I’ve learned, there are a lot of factors you have to take into account. I try to walk as much as I can and bike to take my kids to daycare. In the future, if I do need a vehicle for greater intensity driving and if it does make sense I would absolutely buy electric, if I had to buy a vehicle.”

What sorts of events has Go Electric DC done besides this drop-in at Mary Riley Styles? “We’ve done a lot of tabling events. We also do showcases, like at homes,” Stile said.

“That's actually Bob Soule who just walked in the door," Stile interjected. "He’s hosted [a showcase] in his house. So, we’ve done that with the help of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) and other groups we’ve partnered with that were kind of like the sponsor. So, we'll do things like that. If there’s an event, we’ll table it.... There’s the Electric Homes Fair coming up in D.C. that’s hosted by Electrify DC. So, we plan to have a presence at that event."

So far, Stile has found being an Electric Coach particularly fulfilling though challenging. “Anytime we’ve helped people so far, they’ve always appreciated it and gotten a lot of value out of it. It’s very low pressure. It’s really about understanding what that person values and what they’re trying to do, like holistically, with their lives and with their homes," Stile said. "It’s not about pushing any particular solution."

Soon, I made my way over to co-founder Bob Soule who was quite busy helping folks. A recently retired national security analyst, Soule recounted humorously how he first got involved with the electrification movement. “For decades I’ve been worried about climate change and increasingly so in recent years,” he said. “I started about a decade ago with my first EV. And my wife and I – when I retired two years ago – took a little trip to all the National Parks in an electric car, all 51 National Parks in the lower 48 states, the only people to do that as far as I know! [Laughs]. Just to show that EVs are ready for primetime.”

Soule then started connecting with climate change groups. “When we got back in the fall of 2022, I started getting involved in some of the climate organizations locally including Citizens Climate Lobby and doing things on our house,” he said. “So we’ve done the cars. We had two EVs at that point. We started doing the house. And I didn’t know what to do. And my plumber would tell me not to get a heat pump for water and that I’d be unhappy and we should stick to our gas line. And I kind of took a leap of faith on that.”

“So, I got involved through Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL), and through them I got involved in Rewiring America,” Soule recalled. CCL's local chapter leader told Soule about RA's "offering a local course on how to become an Electric Coach. And at the time I just wanted to know about electric heat pumps for my own house… And, I especially wanted to know about heat pumps in cold weather.”

“So I took the course and it was great!,” Soule said, of the very first course offered by RA as a Beta module. “So, after the first course, they asked four of us to stay as Guides for the subsequent course, which are basically Teaching Assistants. So, actually, I helped these guys [points to other Electric Coaches] take the course later. And I learned more and more as I went along, and I guess now, gosh, I’m sort of an expert." [Laughs].

“And so I actually harassed David Stile into taking the course because I coached him on how to get a heat pump and he asked me so many questions, and he outclassed me, so I said, ‘David, you should take the course.’ So he did and we stayed in touch after he got through the course.... And we got to thinking, ‘You know, this would be a lot more effective if we were operating as a team.’ So, David and I kind of brainstormed it, and I sent an email to all the people who had been through the course in the DMV area and I got about 16 or 17 who said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ Which is what we have now.”

For the volunteers, it’s “vital to know what you’re talking about based on personal experience,” Soule emphasized. “And we just want to help other people do that because I remember when I was doing it, I really could have used a coach, especially about heat pumps! [Laughs]. And that’s true pretty much about everybody. You know, electrification is a very elegant concept ‘in concept,’ but in practice, every home has complications and people just don’t know a lot of stuff about heat pumps and whatnot.”

And one of the biggest barriers to home electrification are “contractors and vendors” who are “stuck in the old ways and will tell you things that aren’t quite true,” Sould added. 

Despite such obstacles, Soule has no regrets he switched to an electric heat pump at home in place of his old gas water heater. “Absolutely!,” he said. “It’s the best of both worlds because it’s energy-efficiency but the hybrid ones in particular have the electric resistance as backup so if you do have high demand situations, you can turn that on and still have plenty of hot water. And it’s about half the cost of a gas water heater to operate. And with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits, as long as they last, it actually costs less than a new gas hot water heater would have cost.”

While Soule is aware most homeowners seeking training are concerned about the climate crisis and that his Electric Coaches a “mostly talking to what I call the ‘Climate Choir,’ he still thinks the successes people have with their energy conversions are important in sending signals to the marketplace. “Right now we’re perfectly happy to help the Climate Choir electrify and the hope is that you send a lot of good signals that way. Your neighbors and your friends find out about it and say, ‘Oh, you’ve got a heat pump.’ In fact, one of my neighbors asked me recently in this cold weather, ‘Hey, how’s your heat pump doing?’ And I said, ‘It’s great! It’s nice and toasty inside.’”

“People see my solar panels on the back of the house. People know I have EVs and they ask me about it. And then friends and relatives. So, that’s one signal we have to send. And then another signal we have to send is to the vendors and contractors. We need to signal that, ‘Yes, you should get into this business. It’s vital!'” 

Over all, Soule has cut his expenses by electrifying. “With EVs, we’re absolutely saving money,” he said. That’s about a third of the cost and there’s no maintenance. I mentioned that we did the electric road trip. We didn’t have a single maintenance issue for 27,000 miles. I mean if you did it in a gas car, you’d need, what? – three or four oil changes, right? So, the EV definitely saves money. And the heat pump water heater definitely saves money.”

Given the cheap price of gas right now, however, Soule said “it’s a mixed-bag” when it comes to his electric heating bill in the winter. But, with how efficient his heat pump is as an air conditioner, he’s looking forward to his cooling bills dropping significantly in the summertime.

What’s even better is that even in 10 degree weather, Soule’s heat pumps have been operating well and haven’t had to switch on the electric resistance backup. “So far, it’s been a champ!,” he said.

Perhaps Soule’s greatest motivation for electrifying their home is to rid the house of toxic and combustible fumes, gas and methane among them. “Methane is explosive. There are little leaks which are very unhealthy. And even if it’s working fine, you’re burning fuels inside your house,” he said. “This is crazy! In the 21st century it is insane to be burning fuels inside our homes, especially in our kitchens.”

“One of the things I talk about in the course, is I ask people, ‘Who’s got a gas furnace? Well, do you have a carbon monoxide detector? No? Well, you should!’ And, second, do you know why you should have one of those? Because it’s dangerous!’ And the more we’re finding out about kitchens, particularly with gas stoves, it’s terrible." Soule added that RA’s course “Why Electrify?” features a doctor warning about the “health effects of leaving these fumes in your home, especially if you have vulnerable people, young children, people with health conditions, older people."

Soule emphasized that most discussions around climate change today focus on what must be “sacrificed” rather than how much the world will be improved by widespread electrification. “Electrification is not sacrificing,” he said. “It’s actually moving to a better world in every meaningful way. Cleaner air, healthier homes, better performance, better comfort, better convenience, a much more efficient energy system. I mean combustion is incredibly inefficient. We waste about two-thirds of our energy in this country on combustion and other wastes. But with an electrified economy we will have a much more efficient energy system. And it performs better. It will be a better world.”

By Christopher Jones