NY To Ban Gas Stoves In New Buildings In Budget Deal — Nation's First Via Legislation

NEW YORK — New York is poised to become the first state in the nation to enact a law banning natural gas stoves in new construction buildings under a new budget deal announced Thursday night.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the $229 billion state budget deal with the Legislature Thursday night, which included an end of constructing new buildings that burn fossil fuels for heat and hot water.

Hochul said Thursday the deal was a “conceptual agreement,” according to The New York Times. Some parts of the agreement still have to be “fine tuned” before the final vote. One area of concern to environmental groups: a possible "poison pill" provision backed by oil and gas groups that would allow local governments and other entities to effectively veto the policy.

However, Katy Zielinski, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office, told The Times on Friday the deal does not include the provision.

“The new law will not have any loopholes that will undermine the intent of this measure,” Zielinski said. “There will not be any option for municipalities to op out.”

The ban also does not apply to existing buildings.

In response to the deal, #GasFreeNY, a statewide coalition of environmental and social justice groups backing the gas ban legislation, said in a statement: "At the precipice of global climate disaster, it’s long past time to stop building new buildings that burn fossil fuels for heat and hot water. Building all-electric will save New Yorkers money on energy bills, reduce climate-heating pollution, create jobs in clean energy, and reduce childhood asthma, a win-win for New Yorkers."

The coalition includes Earthjustice, Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change (NYCC), and NYPIRG.

Environmental groups also expressed frustrations that it would take effect too slowly, with a start date beginning in 2026.

"New Yorkers are watching carefully to make sure the final budget includes real action and doesn’t defer to the gas lobby. New Yorkers don’t want a big announcement that turns out to be a sham," the coalition said.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has called the new law a governmental "overreach to the extreme, taking away the ability for families to make decisions for how they want to cook and feed their families."

"Extreme Democrats in the House like Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries should have to answer if they would support a national ban on gas stoves," the committee said.

Former gubernatorial candidate and former Long Island congressman Lee Zeldin has also criticized a gas stove ban.

"Other than the higher taxes, more crime, elimination of gas stoves, less freedom, lower test scores, and other doozies, life in Kathy Hochul’s New York is going just swell for her 'apostles' who haven’t left yet," he tweeted earlier this year.

California and Washington both previously banned gas stoves in new construction buildings, but did so through building codes.

A recent study concluded that nearly 13 percent of current childhood asthma nationwide is attributed to gas stove use. That's similar to the childhood asthma burden attributed to secondhand smoke exposure.

In New York, that number approached 19 percent.

"Gas stove usage should be considered in multi-faceted asthma prevention approaches," the researchers said. "Given that this exposure is preventable, our study demonstrates that known mitigation strategies will lessen childhood asthma burden from gas stoves, particularly in states with elevated PAFs. Further research is needed to quantify the burden experienced at the state and county levels, as well as the impacts of implementing mitigation strategies through intervention studies."

However, a comprehensive literature review titled, "The Effects of Cooking on Residential Indoor Air Quality: A Critical Review of the Literature with an Emphasis on the Use of Natural Gas Appliances," conducted by Catalyst Environmental Solutions, found gas stoves do not cause respiratory problems.

The analysis said natural gas is, “not a significant determinant of residential indoor air quality.” It noted that the food type is more important than the fuel used to cook it.

People should use proper ventilation when cooking to protect their health and consider other factors like the type of food, the oil used to cook the food, plus the temperature and time used to cook food, the report said.

The review looked at several peer-reviewed studies and government assessments. It said many are used in California and other states to falsely claim that gas stoves harm respiratory health. The analysis was paid for by the California Restaurant Association and the California Building Industry Association and was not funded by the appliance industry.

Alex Hoehn-Saric, chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, tweeted in January that his agency was exploring new ways to address health risks, and was actively engaged in strengthening voluntary safety standards for gas stoves.

"Research indicates that emissions from gas stoves can be hazardous, and the CPSC is looking fro ways to reduce related indoor air quality hazards," he said. "But to be clear, I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so."

In Westchester County, ConEdison in 2019 instituted a moratorium on natural gas hookups, and later sought to accelerate customers' use of geothermal heat pumps.

"We are no longer accepting applications for new natural gas connections in most of our Westchester service area," ConEd writes on its website. "We want to help you find alternative ways to heat your home or business. Get thousands off state-of-the-art heat pump technology, which moves energy from the sun in the air or stored in the earth to provide clean heating, air conditioning, and hot water."

On Long Island, National Grid in 2019 also instituted a moratorium on new gas hookups amid a showdown over then Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to block a pipeline. The utility ended its moratorium in November of that year when Cuomo threatened to revoke its license.