Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Back when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed her state budget in early 2023, the proposal included details on a push away from natural gas when it comes to new builds.
The proposed bill called for the eventual ban of installing fossil fuel space and water heating equipment, including home heating systems that use natural gas. It also bans any supply, distribution, or delivery of fossil-fuel for any purpose to new buildings.
New buildings under seven stories, including homes, would be required to be fully electric by 2026, while larger structures will not be allowed gas hookups after 2029. The proposed rules will not mandate that existing homes switch over.
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With nearly 12 months left until this natural gas ban is set to take effect, some local lawmakers feel this bill is going to hamper some people's ability to effectively, efficiently and affordably heat their homes, and everything else that natural gas provides for residents of Western New York.
"What happened is in the last couple of years, we've brought this up in budget hearings and so forth, and we've actually been able to get exceptions made for things like agriculture, food processing and so forth. You really can't manufacture things efficiently in New York State, in most cases, if you're not using natural gas. So right now, I would say that it is on shaky ground at best," said State Sen. George Borrello in an interview with WBEN.
Borrello feels the governor and her allies in Albany have come up with a lot of goals, but have no plans to achieve those goals.
"Instead, they're trying to force things down our throats that ultimately aren't going to do a thing to put a dent into climate change, but are going to have a profoundly negative effect on our economy. That's where we are right now," Borrello said. "And I think the people of New York spoke in this last election. They're not happy with the leadership, they certainly are not happy with the one-party rule and the way that Democrats have chosen politics over things like public safety and affordability. And I hope we go back to Albany and we see more changes."
Borrello believes there's a whole host of items that Gov. Hochul and her allies are doing to negatively impact New York State, including the electric bus mandate, clean truck standards and more. However, he feels it's the natural gas ban that is one of the centerpieces of their irresponsible energy policies.
Back in 2019, the City of Berkeley, Calif. was the first city in the nation to enact a similar natural gas ban on new builds in an effort to combat climate change.
However, five years later, the city agreed to halt enforcement of the ban after it was successfully opposed in court by the California Restaurant Association. The settlement follows the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' refusal to reconsider a 2023 ruling that the ban violates federal law that gives the U.S. government the authority to set energy-efficiency standards for appliances.
Sen. Borello suspects that, eventually, the same thing will happen with this natural gas ban in New York State.
"There is no doubt a federal issue there that needs to be addressed, and there are lawsuits in process here in New York State to do the same thing. I think the governor is going to lose that," Borrello said. "Taking away that choice for people is certainly a major issue, and the 9th Circuit in California, which is certainly not considered to be a conservative court, deemed that, indeed, that natural gas ban was unconstitutional."
Borrello feels it's up to New Yorkers to stop this ban from taking effect by no longer continuing to support, what he considers to be, radical ideas with no concrete plans.
"Everyone in Western New York should be asking their elected officials, particularly the Democrats in the Senate and the Assembly, 'Where do you stand on this? Where do you stand on banning natural gas? And more importantly, how have you voted?' The people of Western New York should know how my Democrat colleagues have voted, and what they have done to ensure that we will still be able to have natural gas as a source of energy here in Western New York," Sen. Borrello added.
When the State Legislature reconvenes this January in Albany, Sen. Borrello says he and other lawmakers who oppose the natural gas ban and other similar bills will continue to fight those proposals publicly and vocally.
"We are going to go back and continue to push back against this electric school bus mandate that is getting voted down in school districts across the state. We're going to continue to push back against these irresponsible mandates that are going to make, essentially, New York State an unaffordable place to build a home. For example, this this whole idea of having to have a sprinkler in any new homes that are built, which is going to add about $30,000 to the cost of building a new single family home," Borrello noted. "Time-and-time again, the people of New York State are being shown the irresponsible leadership that we have in Albany, and we, my Republican colleagues in the Senate, are going to continue to speak out against this, and speak up for common sense and affordability."
Sen. Borrello adds several home builders and construction folks from around the state have told him and other lawmakers they are not prepared for this natural gas ban to go in effect.
"First-and-foremost, there isn't the items available to build a house that's all electric. There's just not enough supply out there, so it's going to delay construction. Secondly, you have places where there are no options for this. You do not have the electric infrastructure in place for homes that operates exclusively on electricity. So we're talking about having to build out new substations and other infrastructure that's just not there. That could be to the tune of many, many millions of dollars for, say, one neighborhood," he said. "But more importantly, natural gas, propane, these are affordable ways for people to heat their homes, to heat water, to do everything else that natural gas has done so well. We cannot just reject this for some kind of a 'pie in the sky,' progressive ideal."
Domenic Cortese, owner of Cortese Construction and host of "Hammer Time Radio" on WBEN, is among the local business owners that feel they are no where close to ready for what New York State is asking of them with this natural gas ban.
"It seems very clear, to me, that this is a short-sighted plan that doesn't have any substance for enactment for several reasons," said Cortese with WBEN. "First of all, manufacturers aren't ready with the kind of appliances that are going to be required, builders haven't planned for the increased costs, electricians aren't ready for what it's going to do as far as electrical wiring of homes. The list goes on-and-on of everybody who touches a home who's not ready for this enactment, which is supposed to take effect January of '26."
Cortese is unsure of just how and when businesses locally will be ready to operate when the natural gas ban would go into effect statewide, especially based on the current condition of the electrical grid.
""It can't keep up with our needs now, let alone when we transform society to 100% electric," Cortese noted. "A 100% electric home will have to be heated with a heat pump, and a heat pump requires 100 amps. That means if you have a larger home, you're going to need 200 amps of service to power two heat pumps. A typical home today doesn't have 200 amps of service. You're going to see new home construction go to 400 amps of service. That's an increased drain on the grid - again, the grid that can't support our uses now - and now we're talking about expanding it. What is the timeline to improve the grid? I don't have any way of knowing that. I don't know if anybody has the answer to that."
Cortese adds he's made it his mission to promote this issue during his air time on WBEN as much as possible.
"I have spoken to state and federal officials about it, and everybody seems to be working in the background to reverse this. But as of right now, I haven't heard of anything happening to move that starting date, which is Jan. 1 of '26," he said.
One other issue Cortese points to in Albany is the proposed HEAT Act, which is being held up right now in the State Legislature.
"What that says is that if it's enacted - the Senate's approved it, the governor's ready to sign it - new neighborhoods will not be built with natural gas lines coming down as part of the infrastructure. What that means is, let's say you have 100% electric home and the power goes out. Well, guess what? There's no backup generator because there's no gas. That's another whole component to this that adds to the ludicrousness of it all," Cortese explained.