Chicago lawmakers unveiled their plan to restrict natural gas use in new construction, adding the Windy City to a growing list of US communities seeking to mandate building electrification.

With the backing of Mayor Brandon Johnson, more than a dozen Chicago City Council members planned to introduce the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance (CABO) on Jan. 24. The ordinance would set an emissions standard that effectively prohibits fossil fuel combustion in new buildings and certain additions, alterations and repairs to existing buildings.

"CABO is the first step in a managed process — a managed, planned process — to move away from dirty, expensive gas and embrace a cheaper, cleaner energy future for all Chicagoans," Alderwoman Maria Hadden (49th Ward), chair of the council's Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy, said during a Jan. 23 press conference.

With the introduction, the nation's three most populous cities were on track to prohibit gas use in new construction. New York City adopted a gas ban in 2021, followed by Los Angeles in 2022, with dozens of other cities, counties and states adopting electrification mandates since 2019.

The introduction of CABO followed efforts to mandate building electrification in nearby Evanston and Oak Park, Ill. It also came as state code officials are poised to make it easier for communities throughout the state to adopt all-electric construction requirements.

The bill drew opposition from nine city council members, construction and gas unions, the Building Industry Association of Greater Chicago, the Southland Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and energy infrastructure company NPL Construction Group.

"Make no mistake, Chicago must work to reduce its carbon footprint," Alderman Gilbert Villegas said in a Jan. 22 press release. "But, during the winter's frigid temperatures, where tens of thousands of Chicagoans were left without electricity, now is the worst possible time to hastily slam through an ordinance without examining true costs, infrastructure requirements, and, most importantly, hearing from residents."

Chicago's path to all-electric construction

Chicago lawmakers followed a model based on emissions coefficients that the New York City Council pioneered. CABO would prohibit combustion of any substance that emits 25 kilograms or more of carbon dioxide per million Btu of energy used. That would bar the use of natural gas, which emits roughly 53 kg of CO₂/MMBtu, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The ordinance would apply to new construction. Within existing buildings, it would apply to certain alterations and repairs. Additions that use a new, separate building system or increase conditioned floor area by 10,000 square feet or 25% would also be subject to the ordinance.

The legislation included exemptions commonly granted in gas bans, including for electricity generation, combined heat and power facilities, and commercial spaces such as restaurants, laboratories and laundromats.

Chicago will seek to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. Nearly 70% of those emissions come from buildings, a statistic that prompted the Chicago Decarbonization Working Group to recommend requiring building electrification in new construction.

Debate over benefits

Opponents argued that the ordinance was "neither clean nor affordable," saying it would "impose a regressive tax" on low- and middle-income households.

"This proposed ordinance would increase costs and risk reliability for everyone, especially during the coldest days of the year like Chicago has been seeing," Chicago gas distributor The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Co. said in a Jan. 24 email.

"Chicago may see emissions go up under this plan," the WEC Energy Group Inc. subsidiary said. "The grid that powers Chicago uses coal and natural gas to keep the lights on. Renewable energy accounts for less than 4% on any given day."

In addition to solar and wind generation, Chicago electric service provider and Exelon Corp. subsidiary Commonwealth Edison Co. generates about a third of the electricity that it produces from zero-carbon nuclear power. Illinois has set a goal of 100% renewable electric generation by 2050.

ComEd said it has the grid reliability and clean energy resources to accommodate electrification. "As the city of Chicago and other municipalities consider new policies to reduce carbon emissions, ComEd will continue to ensure the grid is ready to handle new technologies, like [electric vehicles] and heat pumps, as energy demands change and as communities adopt more renewable energy,” the company said in a Jan. 24 email.

The ordinance's proponents, which included dozens of business leaders and environmental and consumer groups, cited studies that demonstrate that all-electric buildings are cheaper to build and maintain.

Backers also referenced studies that link indoor gas cooking to carcinogen exposure and respiratory illness, particularly childhood asthma. The American Gas Association has disputed those findings.

"Too many Chicagoans are having trouble paying their gas bills, and too many families are exposed to chemicals that cause cancer and asthma when burning gas in their kitchens," Johnson said in a Jan. 23 press release.

Local ordinance reflects state momentum

At the state level, code officials have developed stretch energy codes that include an option for communities to require all-electric new residential and commercial construction.

The Illinois Capital Development Board is slated to take up the stretch energy code for final adoption Feb. 13. It would go into effect June 30.

Illinois ranked third among states for gas use in the residential and commercial sectors in 2022, behind New York and California. Illinois consumed nearly 61% of its 2022 gas shipments within those two sectors, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights analysis.

The Illinois Commerce Commission is also preparing to launch a proceeding to explore the future of the state's gas distribution systems. The ICC allowed a decade-old pipeline replacement framework, the Qualifying Infrastructure Plant, to expire at the end of 2023.