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. [emphasis, links added]
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 Pamela 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.”
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 the 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 discouraged 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, 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.
Read rest at Daily Caller
