The New York City Council will reportedly vote on banning natural gas in new buildings, seeking to take steps to shift from fossil fuels to clean energy like many other smaller cities in the U.S.

If the law is passed, new buildings in the United States’ biggest city with around 8.8 million residents will have to use electricity for heat and cooking.

In the short term, the new law will not do much in reducing emissions in the city as many older buildings will not be impacted, while the new establishments would anyway use electricity produced from fossil fuels. In the long run, however, the state intends to stop using fossil fuels for the generation of power.

The law will be applicable for new buildings less than seven stories high at the end of 2023 and those more than seven stories in 2027.

Carbon emissions from fossil fuels in the U.S. dropped to their lowest in 2020, since 1983, however, were anticipated to increase by around 7% in 2021 as power providers were using more coal for the generation of electricity due to a dramatic increase in costs of natural gas.

New York’s step to ban natural gas could mean a higher price for buildings that use electricity for heat than those using natural gas. This winter, the average household in the Northeastern part of the country is likely to pay USD 1,538 to heat their home using electricity, as compared to about USD 865 using natural gas.

According to federal energy data, over 40% of the power generated in New York comes from fossil fuels, with an additional 29% from nuclear power and around 22% from hydropower.

Carbon emissions from the power sector in New York are likely to reduce in the future as the state has passed a law in 2019 that requires all electricity to come from clean sources of energy by 2040.

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