{"id":256417,"date":"2023-05-07T18:15:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-07T16:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256417"},"modified":"2023-05-07T18:15:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T16:15:42","slug":"new-york-gas-stove-ban-beginning-of-the-end-or-end-of-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256417","title":{"rendered":"New York Gas Stove Ban \u2013 Beginning of the End or End of the Beginning?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Roger Caiazza<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New York State recently banned the use of natural gas from most new buildings that was described as<\/a>: \u201ca major win for climate advocates, but a move that could spark pushback from fossil fuel interests\u201d.   I have been following New York\u2019s net-zero transition plan for years and there are some interesting aspects associated with the \u201cmajor win for climate advocates\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate Act Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act<\/a> (Climate Act) established a New York \u201cNet Zero\u201d target (85% reduction and 15% offset of emissions) by 2050 and an interim 2030 target of a 40% reduction by 2030. The Climate Action Council<\/a> is responsible for preparing the Scoping Plan that outlines how to \u201cachieve the State\u2019s bold clean energy and climate agenda.\u201d  In brief, that plan is to electrify everything possible and power the electric gride with zero-emissions generating resources by 2040.  The Integration Analysis<\/a> prepared by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and its consultants quantifies the impact of the electrification strategies.  That material was used to write a Draft Scoping Plan<\/a>.  After a year-long review the Scoping Plan recommendations were finalized at the end of 2022.  In 2023 the Scoping Plan<\/a> recommendations are supposed to be implemented through regulation and legislation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York\u2019s official website for the Climate Act promotes the strategies in the Scoping Plan including a fact sheet<\/a> describing the plans to decarbonize New York\u2019s buildings.  It includes the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adopt Zero-Emission Codes and Standards: More efficient, zero-emissions equipment for heating and cooking is increasingly available. That makes replacing existing equipment and appliances with cleaner and healthier alternatives an easy choice for New Yorkers. New construction projects will be required to install zero-emissions equipment in 2025 for single-family and low-rise buildings and in 2028 for high-rise and commercial buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scoping Plan includes specific recommended strategies for the buildings sector<\/a>.  The relevant theme, \u201cAdopt Zero-Emission Codes and Standards and Require Energy Benchmarking for Buildings\u201d, included three strategies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B1. Adopt Advanced Codes for Highly Efficient, Zero-Emission, and Resilient New Construction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B2. Adopt Standards for Zero-Emission Equipment and the Energy Performance of Existing Buildings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B3. Require Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In existing buildings, the best opportunity for energy improvements is during routine home and capital improvements and when HVAC equipment is retired from service. Since the useful life of HVAC equipment ranges from 15 to 30 years, seizing the opportunities to electrify<\/p>\n\n\n\n

buildings by 2050 requires near-term action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electrification and efficiency improvements in existing buildings present a larger challenge of sheer scale.  The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), DEC, and New York State Department of State (DOS) should work together to adopt regulatory requirements that will bring about the end of fossil fuel combustion in buildings by prohibiting replacement of fossil fuel equipment at end of useful life, coordinated with action taken by the PSC and New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) to regulate gas utilities and with New York State Department of Labor (DOL) and the Office of Just Transition to promote workforce development. Building performance standards also will compel efficient operation of buildings and capital investments in high-performance building envelopes and efficient HVAC systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York Legislation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As noted previously the plan for 2023 is to promulgate new regulations and pass new legislation to implement the Scoping Plan recommendations.  New York\u2019s strange political process includes an annual legislative self-made crisis in which legislation is held hostage to the annual budget.  On May 2, over a month past the April 1 due date, the Legislature and Administration finally passed the budget bill<\/a> that included the gas stove ban that got so much attention.  The point of this article is that there were interesting aspects of the budget discussions this year that have bigger implications than the passage of the ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my opinion, and certainly the belief of the climate activists, the Scoping Plan is pretty clear that fossil-fueled equipment is to be banned outright.  Indeed, the legislation prohibits installation of \u201cfossil-fuel equipment and building systems\u201d in newly constructed buildings seven stories or less, except new commercial or industrial buildings over 100,000 ft2 <\/sup>on or after 12\/31\/25, and for all other buildings on or after 12\/31\/28\u201d.  However, the prohibition does not apply to     <\/p>\n\n\n\n