Shortly after a federal appeals court ruling threatened to hamstring Berkeley’s ban on new natural gas hookups, New York state has passed a budget barring gas appliances in new buildings.
New York, which was America’s sixth-largest state consumer of natural gas in 2020, became the first state to enact such a ban when the state’s 2023-24 budget was passed Tuesday night.
“Changing the ways we make and use energy to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels will help ensure a healthier environment for us and our children,” New York House Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, said in a news release.
Los Angeles is among more than 70 California cities and counties that have banned or discouraged natural gas hookups in new buildings. The City Council voted in May to do so, citing climate change. However, no state had passed such a ban until now.
The requirements for electric construction will be phased in starting in 2025, and include some exemptions: “Hospitals, critical infrastructure and commercial food establishments” will be left out, according to Heastie’s statement, as will “buildings where the local grid is not capable of handling the load.”
Switching appliances to electric power may not be a clear environmental victory without changes in power generation. Nearly three-fifths of New York’s electricity generation capacity comes from natural gas-fired power plants, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The ban is part of an overall strategy “to reduce our state’s carbon emissions and move us away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources,” Assemblymember and Energy Committee Chair Didi Barrett said.
The move was criticized by prominent Republicans. Gas stoves became a politically charged symbol this year as conservative politicians and media outlets portrayed measures designed to restrict their use as infringements on freedom.
“The Democrats enthusiastically pummeling New York into the ground are about to pass a statewide ban of gas hookups on new construction,” former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said on Twitter.
Later, in another Tweet, Zeldin said the policy would turn “New Yorkers into pissed off New Yorkers, broke New Yorkers, and former New Yorkers.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who defeated Zeldin in the 2022 gubernatorial race, released a statement touting the budget and its “$5.5 billion investment to promote energy affordability, reduce emissions, and invest in clean air and water, building on more than $30 billion committed to climate action. ”
The budget, according to Hochul’s website, includes “nation-leading building decarbonization proposals that will prohibit fossil fuel equipment and building systems in new construction, phase out the sale and installation of fossil fuel space and water heating equipment in existing buildings, and establish building benchmarking and energy grades.”
It was unclear whether New York’s ban would face legal challenges like those that have hampered Berkeley’s efforts.
