Gov. Hochul Reverses All Electric Building Law, Telling New Yorkers: "PAY MORE!"

ALBANY, NY (11/12/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, an Albany district court filed an injunction to delay the start of the All-Electric Buildings Law, set to go into effect on January 1, 2026. Signed in 2023, the AEBL will save families money and equip all new single-family and low-rise buildings with energy efficient heat pumps instead of costly - and deadly - gas and oil heating.

Their decision isn't by coincidence: Governor Hochul has previously said that she's considering delaying the law. This new development comes less than a week after she approved the Trump-backed NESE gas pipeline and gave the greenlight for cryptominers to keep polluting the air for cheap - completely backpedaling on the state's Climate Law a court recently ordered her to follow. In October, TIME Magazine named the Governor as one of its 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025, but in the past week alone she has walked back most of the climate progress she's made as governor.

For New York City-based residents and developers, companion all-electric legislation Local Law 97 already exists. About 94 percent of properties are already complying with the law and taking steps to electrify, which will dramatically slash pollution from the 23,000 buildings contributing more than two-thirds of the city's greenhouse emissions.

Lisa Marshall, Director of Advocacy and Organizing, New Yorkers for Clean Power issued the following statement in response:

"After following the science and signing the All-Electric Buildings Law to save families money and fight climate change, Governor Hochul is taking a machete to state law. In record timing, she's dashed all her progress on New York's climate and energy affordability goals to side with the fossil fuel industry and corporate executives bent on polluting our air and water and hiking up our energy bills. While families struggle to make ends meet, the Governor's trading our futures for greedy billionaires. New Yorkers deserve better."

BACKGROUND

Passed in 2023, the All-Electric Buildings Law (AEBL) requires newly constructed single-family and low-rise buildings to be all-electric by 2026 with appliances like energy efficient heat pumps for heating, cooling, and hot water, and all remaining new construction to be fully-electric by 2029. Hundreds of all-electric buildings are already in operation throughout the state including affordable housing, luxury housing, mixed use buildings, a conference center, hotels, restaurants, airport terminals and more. The technology is proven and ready.

Delaying the All Electric Building Law undermines Governor Hochul's energy affordability agenda and New York's landmark Climate Law. Under the AEBL, families living in new all-electric homes could save an estimated $1,080 per year, on average, compared to homes fueled by gas and oil, according to a report from Switchbox. In rural parts of the state with no gas distribution network where homes instead burn oil, new homes equipped with heat pumps could save an average of $2,650 per year. Switchbox's newest report confirms that New York State's energy grid has more than enough capacity to handle new all-electric buildings.

Research shows that getting off fossil fuels and going all electric over the next 30 years is a net-positive jobs creator, creating more than 200,000 new jobs in the buildings sector. And it's better for our health: burning gas in our homes is highly polluting and causes severe respiratory illness. Data shows that 19 percent of childhood asthma in New York can be attributed to gas stoves, and low income and public housing residents who often live in small and poorly ventilated dwellings bear a disproportionate burden of the impacts.

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