Las Vegas City Wire

Will Las Vegas follow New York City in banning natural gas from new construction?

Don’t bet on it.

New buildings in New York City will no longer be allowed to use natural gas following a New York City Council vote Dec. 16, NYC Gazette reported. Smaller cities in the United States have tried policies like this in the past, but New York City is the largest and first major city to institute such a policy. The goal is to shift to cleaner sources of energy. This will force new buildings to rely on electricity for heat and cooking.

“The bill to ban the use of gas in new buildings will (help) us to transition to a greener future and (reach) carbon neutrality by the year 2050,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, as reported by Reuters. “We are in a climate crisis and must take all necessary steps to fight climate change and protect our city.”

Jace Radke, the city’s senior public information officer, said it’s not on the table in Las Vegas.

“It is not something that has been on a City Council agenda this year, and I am not aware of it being on an upcoming agenda,” Radke told Las Vegas City Wire. “So it is safe to say that the mayor and City Council have not taken up this issue at this time.”

He said Mayor Carolyn Goodman had no comment on the matter.

Mayor Goodman announced on Dec. 12, 2016, that all electricity used in Las Vegas city buildings came from green or renewable sources.

Goodman commented on this along with NV Energy officials at City Hall, KSNV reported at the time.

“The city of Las Vegas is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from green sources,” she said at Las Vegas city hall.

The power came from Boulder Solar 1, a nearby solar farm. NV Energy purchased 100 megawatts of electricity annually from the project, and 20 megawatts were used to power city buildings.

The New York City Council vote and new regulation will have no effect on already existing buildings, however. New buildings below seven stories have until 2023 to comply, while taller buildings have until 2027, Reuters reported.

San Jose, California, with 1 million residents, was the largest city to enact similar policies until New York City made this official. New York City has an estimated 8.8 million residents. Las Vegas has an estimated population of 651,000, but 2.6 million people in the metropolitan area.

Policies such as these have been popular on the West Coast in the past as temperate weather lends itself more to less natural gas usage. New York City will be a true test for colder climates.. according to E&E News.

Opponents of this policy have cited concerns over price increases, dissuasion of new development, and increased strain on the grid. Real estate developers in the state said that the act would “substantially increase utility bills for New Yorkers” while doing little to curb emissions.

Consolidated Edison Inc., which supplies power and gas in New York City, said “the establishment of a clear-cut path toward electrification of most new buildings is a sensible and necessary step on the path to carbon neutrality by 2050,” Reuters reported. 

“Reducing New York’s reliance on natural gas will gradually increase demand for electricity, but our electric grid is more robust than it’s ever been, and we will be ready for a renewable-powered future,” Con Edison said.

Ben Furnas, the city’s sustainability chief, said New York was in the lead on this issue, and appropriately so.

“We’re really setting the pace here, saying that if it can be done in New York City, it can really be done anywhere,” Furnas said, according to E&E News. “We’re big, we’re dense, we’re complicated, we have all four seasons. We’re putting a marker down, saying the next generation of buildings is going to be electric. We want to be a model for the world.”

Real Estate Board of New York President James Whelan said such changes were best made gradually to ensure residents had dependable power.

“While we appreciate that the efficient electrification of buildings is an important component of realizing these goals, these policies must be implemented in a way that ensure that New Yorkers have reliable, affordable, carbon-free electricity to heat, cool and power their homes and businesses,” Whelan said in a statement to E&E News.

Goodman, 82, is in her third term as mayor. She was elected in 2011 to replace her husband Oscar Goodman, who stepped down after three terms.