Just last month, the state argued in court that it couldn’t halt the all-electric buildings law even if it wanted to. Then it abruptly changed course.
Colin Kinniburgh · November 26, 2025 Photo from NYSERDA
When New York abruptly backed down this month from its plans to implement a nation-leading ban on gas in new buildings, some legal observers had questions.
Lawmakers passed the All-Electric Buildings Act, which requires most new buildings to have only electric appliances, in 2023 as a step toward reducing pollution from the state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and advancing New York’s legally mandated emissions targets. It was set to take effect in January.
Delaying the law’s implementation past then would cause the state “irreparable harm,” lawyers argued in an October 1 brief. They’d spent two years successfully defending the law against industry opponents. But the law is now on hold — with the state’s signoff.
After Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration agreed, a federal judge finalized a deal last week that will likely suspend New York’s gas ban for at least a year and potentially two or more.
The state’s sudden retreat came after a series of actions from Hochul this year walking back the state’s climate commitments: Shelving a promised carbon pricing program and vowing to fight a court ruling to revive it; signing off on a thrice-rejected underwater gas pipeline after talks with President Donald Trump; and granting permits to a gas-powered cryptocurrency mining facility that regulators had long said violated the state’s climate law.
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