New York will soon force developers to build new buildings that can only use electricity for temperature control and appliances, which will further strain the state’s electric grid if it’s fully implemented, according to energy policy experts and some state officials.
Starting in January 2026, the “All-Electric Building Act” will require most new buildings to run mainly on electricity and ban gas appliances, with only a few exceptions. New York utility companies are reportedly struggling to meet the state’s harsh electrification mandate that could worsen existing power shortages if the policy is fully enforced, some energy experts and state officials who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation warned.
“New York’s energy mandates are forcing the shutdown of reliable power plants faster than we’re bringing new sources online, and that’s creating a serious capacity shortfall. As a result, housing developments across the state are being delayed or canceled,” Republican New York State Senator Pamlea Helming told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Not because of funding or local opposition, but because there simply isn’t enough power to support them. When the state pushes all-electric mandates without building the infrastructure to match, it drives up costs and makes it harder to build the attainable housing our communities desperately need.” (RELATED: Forget Stoves! The Biden Admin Is Working Overtime To Phase Out All Your Gas Appliances)
A photo illustration shows blue flames from a gas at a home in Arlington, Virginia on May 3, 2023. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Helming has written about the struggle to develop new housing in her district, noting that the all-electric mandate is placing pressure on utility companies and is complicated by New York’s weak power grid. As things stand, New York has enacted several regulations on appliances, has a 2040 green energy mandate and has some of the highest average utility bills in the U.S., according to data from Energy Information Administration (EIA).
A major grid watchdog and New York’s grid operator both noted that the state has major projected electricity needs that it may be unable to meet. New York is phasing out fossil fuel-fired power plants to meet emissions targets without replacing them with carbon-free sources fast enough, according to the New York Independent System Operator, the state’s grid manager.
Representatives for both New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) told a local news outlet that “unforeseen and unprecedented demand” in the region has complicated their businesses. Jared Simpson, the town supervisor in Canandaigua, New York, told WXXI News that utilities are dissuaded from electrification due to electricity shortages.
Simpson reportedly said that when developers were grappling with a power shortage, RG&E and state officials told them that the solution was to “take out the (electric vehicle) chargers, put in gas heat, put in gas stoves, put in gas dryers.”
“The utility companies have to go through a pretty tough adversarial process to get their rates and their spending plans approved, and there is a decent chance that some of the places that are now choke points for building up the grid were subject to different constraints by state government,” Ken Girardin, special advisor for the Empire Center, a New York-focused think tank, told the DCNF. “That is to say, the utility companies wanted to spend more on the grid and regulators didn’t let them.”
As New York phases out power plants and fails to replace aging energy infrastructure fast enough, its policies are marching the state toward a serious electricity problem, Girardin argued. He also said that the electrification goals will negatively impact housing and school districts.
“Eventually, the bill is going to come due,” Girardin said. “Developers either aren’t going to be able to get electricity for projects, or the numbers on those projects are going to make them much less attractive.”
The “All-Electric Building Act” was signed into law in 2023 before the code was then approved in the state budget, according to a local news outlet WGRZ. The bill specifically applies to buildings less than seven stories and it carves out some exemptions for buildings like fire stations, hospitals and restaurants, according to the bill text.
The regulations would not apply to homes that already use gas stoves or gas-powered heating, though a full electric transition will eventually be required in the state, according to officials. (RELATED: New York Rolls Out ‘Shakedown’ Law Forcing Companies To Atone For Climate Change With Cash)
People walk down a street of Manhattan after a power outage hit the borough in New York City on July 13, 2019. (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)
“Full electric will have to be every building at some point,” Democratic New York State Sen. Liz Kruger said, according to WGRZ. New York’s Scoping plan calls for zero-emission technologies and a “gas system transition.”
Much of the state’s electricity stems from natural gas, according to NYISO. The Empire State’s green energy mandate threatens its grid reliability and will add costs to ratepayers, experts previously told the DCNF.
“Buildings have 40 percent of our state emissions so by cutting out building emissions, this is going to be an incredible step forward for our environmental goals,” Democrat Assemblymember Emily Gallagher said, according to WGRZ. “This was a real battle to get passed.”
While some officials are celebrating the impending transition, some community members are concerned about how the new building code will impact costs.
“New York State … it’s been difficult to get anyone to really listen to any logic on the problems that this poses to us as builders. It was going to create about a $20,000 increase in the cost to build a home,” Buffalo Niagara Building Association President Phil Nanula told WGRZ.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 8 that calls for the attorney general to identify any state laws that may be unconstitutional or “otherwise unenforceable.”
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Gallagher, NYSEG and RG&E did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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