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12 Oct, 2023
Policymakers in Evanston, Ill., home to Northwestern University, voted to pursue restrictions on natural gas use in new buildings. Source: pics721 via Getty Images |
A national push to restrict natural gas use in buildings is gaining traction in the Midwest after remaining largely confined to the East and West coasts for several years.
Communities in the densely populated Chicago area began to adopt gas bans, even as Illinois policymakers were developing an opt-in building electrification mandate for cities and towns across the state. Meanwhile, local leaders in Ann Arbor, Mich., set their sights on phasing out gas distribution service after earlier considering narrower building electrification requirements.
Yet, the Midwest remained difficult terrain for gas bans. Wisconsin Republicans aimed to join a firewall of interior and southern US states that have outlawed the policy. They faced opposition from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who recently pledged to explore a range of building decarbonization policies.
Chicago-area cities advance gas bans
Gas bans gained a toehold in Cook County, Ill., the nation's second-most populous county, as Chicago-area policymakers looked to building electrification to support their climate goals.
The Board of Trustees in Oak Park, Ill., on June 20 adopted the Midwest's first local gas ban for new single-family homes, apartment complexes and other commercial buildings. The board unanimously supported the provisions, included as amendments to 2021 model building codes for residential and commercial construction.
The codes required electric-powered air-source or ground-source heat pumps for space and water heating, as well as electric vehicle charging infrastructure. They allowed fossil fuel use for emergency backup in all building types and for commercial kitchens in mixed-use construction.
The board moved swiftly to adopt the gas ban, passing it just six months after directing village staff to develop code language. The village planned to conduct public outreach to inform and educate stakeholders, including Oak Park's more than 50,000 residents, before the changes go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Policymakers in Evanston, Ill., recently began stakeholder outreach that will inform an ordinance to phase out new gas hookups. After focusing much of its efforts on greening the city's electric grid in recent years, Evanston is putting sharper focus on the building sector in its effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, City Council member Jonathan Nieuwsma said in an interview.
Nieuwsma, along with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss and three other council members, asked the city's Energy Commission in January to begin developing legislation to restrict gas use in new construction. In April, the full city council directed the commission to begin outreach on the ordinance as part of its latest action items for implementing Evanston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan. The Energy Commission formed the Building Electrification Working Group, which began meeting in July to engage stakeholders, survey the community and ultimately develop an ordinance.
Local gas distributor Nicor Gas, a Southern Co. subsidiary known officially as Northern Illinois Gas Co., said it engages with local governments to "collaborate and help educate about the benefits of natural gas," including in Oak Park and Evanston. In its view, maintaining all energy options enhances comfort, increases reliability and resilience and keeps energy affordable and accessible.
"We believe in an energy strategy that utilizes the unique benefits that natural gas, renewables, electricity, nuclear power and negative carbon initiatives provide and use them in a balanced, portfolio approach for the benefit of our customers," Nicor said in an email.
Illinois to give communities option to go all-electric
While Oak Park and Evanston opted to develop local ordinances restricting gas use in buildings, all Illinois communities could soon have a pathway to mandating all-electric construction and retrofits.
State code officials are developing stretch energy codes for residential and commercial buildings, which will give communities the option to adopt more stringent building energy standards than the base code requires. The draft stretch codes include appendices that communities can adopt to require all-electric new construction.
In existing buildings, the draft appendices follow an emerging policy trend. They require property owners to install an electric heat pump in lieu of a new or replacement air-conditioner. Once a heat pump is installed, the appendices allow fossil fuel combustion and electric resistance heating only for backup.
The Illinois Capital Development Board will finalize the stretch energy codes by Dec. 31, 2023, and make them available for adoption by June 30, 2024.
In addition to Southern Co., Ameren Corp., Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. and WEC Energy Group Inc. operate gas utilities in Illinois. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.-owned MidAmerican Energy Co. also distributes gas in the state.
Michigan takes new approach to gas phaseout
Policymakers in Ann Arbor, Mich., have pivoted from pursuing a gas ban in new buildings to overhauling how the city heats its homes and workplaces.
The city will seek to replace gas distribution with a lower-emissions method of heating buildings by renegotiating its gas franchise, currently held by DTE Energy Co. subsidiary DTE Gas Co. Local leaders determined that combusting gas for heating, cooking and other end uses is not consistent with the city's goal of achieving community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030.
"We all know that the status quo is not acceptable," Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor said during a March 20 meeting. "We deserve reliable, affordable, clean, healthy energy to heat and power our homes."
Two of the six pillars in Ann Arbor's A2Zero plan call for electrifying the transportation and building sectors and significantly improving energy efficiency in buildings. In November 2022, Ann Arbor voters approved a 20-year tax to fund climate action outlined in the plan.
The same month, Ann Arbor's City Planning Commission proposed updating zoning codes to prohibit gas use in new construction. The commission suspended work after the city council decided to dedicate resources to the franchise renegotiation approach. The Office of Sustainability and Innovations put forward the alternative proposal after learning that DTE Gas's franchise would expire in 2027.
The franchise governs the use of public right of way but also establishes the conditions for a company to provide utility service. In March, the city council adopted a resolution directing the city administrator to negotiate a new gas franchise with DTE Gas and other potential utility providers, with the goal of reaching a new agreement that aligns with the A2Zero plan.
Ann Arbor and DTE Gas recently started franchise discussions but have not committed anything to writing, both parties told S&P Global Commodity Insights. Ann Arbor put out a request for proposals in April and took applications through June. Ann Arbor received several proposals for geothermal energy networks and other district heating solutions.
Wisconsin anti-gas ban bill at standstill
Five states passed laws to protect access to gas utility service in 2023, and gas ban opponents were looking to eke out another win before year-end in Wisconsin.
Gov. Evers on Aug. 4 vetoed Wisconsin Senate Bill 49, which would prevent the state or local governments from restricting access to utility service based on the type of energy supplied.
"I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the legislature's continued efforts to preempt local control and undermine trust in local governments across our state," Evers said in a message to legislators. "Additionally, this bill could jeopardize our communities' and our state's future ability to transition away from fossil fuels or to collectively combat climate change."
Republicans used their supermajority in the state Senate to override Evers' veto in a strict party-line vote in September, but the bill still needs support from two-thirds of the state Assembly to pass into law. Whether SB 49 can clear that hurdle is unclear. Republicans are just short of holding a supermajority in the Assembly. If a vote splits parties in the Assembly, two Democrats would have to support the veto override or be absent.
The Assembly has not previously held a vote on the bill; the chamber instead suspended rules in June to expedite its progress. The bill returned to the Assembly on Sept. 14, and the chamber is scheduled to resume floor sessions soon. The Senate has not received notice of when the Assembly will hold a vote, an aide for Republican state Sen. Dan Knodl, one of the bill's sponsors, said in an email.
Allete Inc., Alliant Energy Corp., MGE Energy Inc., WEC Energy Group and Xcel Energy Inc. distribute gas in Wisconsin through subsidiaries.
Bills to prohibit gas bans were still technically active in Michigan and Pennsylvania, but they have not made progress in Democrat-controlled chambers. At least nine similar bills died in committee in other states in 2023.
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