Hours after we issued yesterday’s legal alert on the approaching Jan. 1, 2026, date for implementation of New York’s All-Electric Buildings Act, the state agreed to delay implementation.
The state’s Secretary of State, Walter Mosley, agreed to a stipulation delaying the act, which bans the use of gas-powered stoves, furnaces, propane and other fossil fuel hookups in most new residential and commercial buildings. The new law was enacted in the 2023-24 New York State Budget to effectuate the state’s emission reduction goals in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
The new law was enacted in the 2023-24 New York State Budget to effectuate the State’s emission reduction goals in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
In July, a federal judge upheld the law in a lawsuit filed by a group of trade and labor groups challenging it as violating the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act. The trade and labor groups appealed the July ruling to the Second Circuit. In stipulations filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in Albany on November 12, 2025, the State agreed to delay implementation of the Act, by suspending the effective date of regulations related to enforcement of the Act, until the appellate court rules on the lawsuit.
Harris Beach Murtha will continue to closely track the status of the Act as the appeal progresses.
Background on All-Electric Buildings Act
The new law calls for, as of Jan. 1, 2026, compliance with the law on all new buildings seven stories or less and commercial and industrial buildings less than 100,000 square feet. New buildings, regardless of height and commercial and industrial buildings greater than 100,000 square feet, have until Jan. 1, 2029, to comply.
The law passed in May 2023 as part of the fiscal year state budget legislation The law originated from New York State climate control and greenhouse gas reduction goals detailed in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) of 2019. The CLCPA identified buildings as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (30%) and calls for reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions. The State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council will enforce the law – provisions of the Act are reflected in the Uniform Building Code and the State Energy Conservation Construction Code.
The new law does have exemptions and will not apply to:
- Buildings existing or approved for construction prior to the effective date
- Installations and continued use and maintenance of existing fossil fuel equipment, including repair, relocation, addition and alteration
- Generation of emergency or back-up power
- Manufactured homes
- Buildings or part thereof used for manufacturing, commercial food establishment, laboratories, car wash, laundromat, medical facilities and critical infrastructure, including emergency management facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, water treatment and pumping facilities, agricultural building, fuel cell system or crematorium.
The new law may present practical challenges for developers and contractors. Upgrade costs may rise, which may cause delays and will make homes and buildings more expensive. Affordable housing, a big problem in the State, may get worse if the new law impedes construction or increases expenses. The law also affects more than developers, as there are parts of New York facing energy grid capacity issues, and all-electric buildings may tax the grid even more, causing power shortages. However, a recent study by Switchbox, a nonpartisan think tank focused on state climate policy, found reliability risks are all associated with summer peaks, when the grid is most stressed. “But the Act won’t worsen the summer peak with new cooling loads, because virtually all new buildings have air-conditioning already.…New York’s grid has significant spare capacity in the winter.”
Harris Beach Murtha’s Real Estate Developers Industry Team and Commercial Real Estate Practice Group are tracking this new law and other related issues to help real estate clients stay aware of pertinent news. If you have questions about this or related issues, please reach out to attorney Michael Murabito at (315) 214-2020 and mmurabito@harrisbeachmurtha.com; attorney F.L. Gorman at (585) 419-8628 and flgorman@harrisbeachmurtha.com; attorney Elizabeth C. Hughes at (716) 200-5269 and ehughes@harrisbeachmurtha.com; or the Harris Beach Murtha attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, and Newark, New Jersey.
