UPDATE: See media coverage of the River Terrace Community site visit from WUSA9 and NBC Washington.

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Today at 6 pm, DC Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6), chair of the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment, will join residents of Ward 7’s River Terrace and Deanwood communities to measure air quality in residents’ homes and discuss the urgent need to replace systems and appliances that burn fossil fuel with electric ones, like gas to electric stoves or gas furnaces to electric heat pumps.  

What: Brief remarks and site visit with River Terrace and Deanwood community residents, including live air quality tests  
Who: Councilmember Charles Allen, Residents and Leaders in the River Terrace community, Washington Interfaith Network, and Sierra Club DC 
When: Monday, May 8, at 6 pm 
Where: Across the street from 255 Anacostia Ave NE 

“We have a fantastic opportunity before us thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act to help DC households make the switch. The benefits are many -- cleaner air in the home and in our neighborhoods, and it helps make the switch towards a more electric future that can more readily be powered from renewable sources,” said Councilmember Allen. “But none of that matters if the communities who can benefit aren’t part of the conversation. I’m grateful to WIN and Sierra Club for their hard work for years to organize residents.” 

The event is open to the press to hear directly from residents who want to make the switch from gas to electric in their homes. Residents of River Terrace have a long history of advocating to improve environmental conditions, and the community is again leading the way with its advocacy for residential electrification. In his FY24 Committee budget proposal, Councilmember Allen has funded a pilot project to help the River Terrace and Deanwood communities switch from gas to electric. The pilot will be the first step in a larger effort to provide financial support to residents across the District who want to move toward home electrification. 

The site visit comes the evening before a public hearing on Councilmember Allen’s Healthy Homes and Residential Electrification Amendment Act of 2023. The bill creates a program for low- and moderate-income residents to have gas appliances and systems replaced in their homes at little or no cost, depending on income level. The bill anticipates the influx of federal dollars through the Inflation Reduction Act for this purpose, supplemented by local funds. 

Washington Interfaith Network organizers have been on the ground in the River Terrace community for many months, talking to residents and measuring air quality in and around homes to better understand the issue. 

Sierra Club DC is one of the oldest environmental advocacy groups in the District and one of the strongest voices in the push to transition from fossil fuel to clean energy. 

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