By Camille Squires
New York City just became the largest city in the US to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings, a step toward the city’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2050.
The new law, which the city council passed 40-7 (with one abstention) on Dec. 15, prohibits new buildings from using gas for heating and cooking beginning in Dec. 2023. Buildings will be wired to power all appliances with electricity. New York City’s law will apply to buildings lower than seven stories beginning in 2023, and buildings taller than seven stories beginning in 2027.
Currently, in New York, natural gas usage in city buildings exceeds electricity consumption during the winter months, representing a major share of buildings’ emissions. The new measure is expected to prevent 2.1 million tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere by 2040, according to an estimate by the Rocky Mountain Institute.
The measure faced fierce opposition from developers and natural gas utilities. National Grid, the region’s natural gas provider, warned that heating buildings with electricity would be more expensive for residents, and could lead to blackouts due to excess demand in the winter. Nationally, gas utilities have organized campaigns to thwart cities’ efforts to pass gas-ban legislation, and have issued public lobbying campaigns against electrification. Natural gas companies supply 66 million homes (pdf) in the US.
But bans on natural gas are a major focus for climate policy advocates as local governments try to cut emissions. More than 50 communities in California including Oakland and San Jose have taken steps to limit natural gas use in new buildings, though not all have gone so far as to pass legislation banning it. At the same time, 20 states including Texas, Florida, and Louisiana have passed laws preventing local authorities from passing natural gas bans before they even try.
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