The move toward banning natural gas and fossil fuels is making significant progress after New York passed a law banning that particular electricity source in new buildings.

Other legislatures have made strides in enacting bans in their own states as part of a larger national conversation about eroding the use of gas stoves and reducing carbon emissions. New York's law will not affect current gas appliances or lines in buildings but will require all-electric appliances beginning in 2025, with a plan to place these appliances in shorter buildings by 2026 and taller buildings by 2029.

NEW YORK BECOMES FIRST STATE TO PASS GAS AND FOSSIL FUEL BAN

More than 100 U.S. cities and localities have moved to restrict gas-powered appliances, including 75 cities in California alone. Here is a look at where other states' attempts to ban gas and fossil fuels sit as of now.

California

Berkeley, California, introduced the first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas appliances, including stoves, in 2019. Other cities, such as San Francisco, Oakland, Los Gatos, and Sunnyvale, California, have enacted similar bans in the years afterward.

However, an appeals court overturned Berkeley's ban on gas stoves on April 19, ruling that ban goes against the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. The court argued that the act preempted a local gas stove ban, as it gives the Department of Energy the legal right to set conservation standards for certain building appliances, which could ultimately put other cities' gas bans in jeopardy.

The California Restaurant Association had been one of the more vocal groups against the gas stove ban, arguing that gas-powered stoves are necessary for chefs to prepare food in the way they have been trained.

Washington

Washington state lawmakers passed a law in 2021 banning all natural gas appliances, including heat pumps, in new commercial projects and multifamily residential buildings. These new regulations are scheduled to take effect in July.

On April 22, 2022, the State Building Code Council approved rules that passed additional electric heat pump mandates for newly constructed smaller residential buildings, according to E&E News.

However, a coalition of building industry groups filed a lawsuit on Feb. 28 alleging that the State Building Code Council overstepped its authority when approving the additional pump rules. The coalition argued that the ban should have gone to the state legislature, rather than the unelected building council.

While climate activists have championed pump regulations as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, builders have argued that these regulations will "interfere with commercial and consumer energy choice" and "unnecessarily increase the cost of homebuilding, ownership, and maintenance."

"The Council adopted these Code provisions without regard to the attending facts or circumstances of the costs imposed on homeowners, workers, businesses, developers, and myriad others across the state," the lawsuit reads.