New York State’s legislature, in conjunction with Governor Kathy Hochul, has gone ahead and done what many blue states have threatened to do. As part of the bloated new budget that was just passed, they included a ban on natural gas hookups in all homes and most other new buildings being constructed starting in 2025, only a little more than a year from now. This will eventually eliminate natural gas stoves and heaters, a goal of liberals around the nation. No provisions were included to bolster the strength of the electrical grid to handle the expanding demand for energy. The WaPo hailed it as “a milestone in the energy transition process.” They were only off by one letter. I’d call it a millstone around the necks of all New Yorkers. (Washington Examiner)

New York is the first state to pass a law that will ban natural gas and fossil fuels in new buildings, setting up the stage for the erosion of gas stoves in the state.

The New York State Legislature passed a $229 billion state budget that will prohibit gas hookups in most new homes and other constructed buildings. The calls have made it to the national level, with the topic of banning gas stoves taking center stage.

A provision in the budget will help the state transition from fossil fuel consumption by phasing in new electric-only requirements for new buildings, beginning in 2025. The law effectively requires all-electric heating and cooking in new buildings shorter than seven stories by 2026.

They did manage to include some exemptions to the rule for hospitals, commercial food establishments, and “critical infrastructure.” That was done to fend off a revolt from the restaurant industry and because they were apparently sane enough to still realize you need to be able to keep the power and the heat on in hospitals in a reliable fashion.

Daniel Turner, the Executive Director of Power the Future called the rule a “kick in the face to rural America.”

“This insane mandate is the latest example of how the green movement doesn’t give a damn about working families in rural America. New York’s electrical grid is teetering on the verge of collapse but that doesn’t matter to these clueless politicians who always put their agenda before the people they are supposed to represent. If the electric utopia promised by Governor Hochul and others was truly what people wanted, they wouldn’t need to pass government mandates to make them a reality.”

This winter we had sections of New York where there wasn’t enough heating oil for people during freezing weather and there were rolling blackouts at times. Hochul’s plan is only going to further destabilize a system that is already operating under a tremendous amount of strain. Gas furnaces and stoves, along with water heaters, are the most common devices, particularly in the more rural, upstate areas. That’s because they work. And you can generally keep them going during a blackout.

But in the name of the new Church of Green Energy, Hochul is going to march the state off of a cliff and the lemmings in the legislature are following her over the ledge. Welcome to the brave new world, folks.