New York's electric buildings mandate could head to SCOTUS

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here to receive this weekday newsletter.

Hey, it’s Dan. We’ve got some big news on this Tuesday that could land New York in the national spotlight when it comes to energy policy.

The Hochul administration was sued three years ago over a law that was set to mandate that all new buildings be constructed without infrastructure for fossil fuels, including natural gas. That case could now be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appellate court in New York City handed down a decision Tuesday.

But we also have an update out of Syracuse, where the race between longtime incumbent Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli and democratic socialist Maurice “Mo” Brown was decided Tuesday.

Plus, there was a handshake budget agreement in New York City between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council Tuesday.

And later, I have a look at a bill that would require the state to create regulations around gene synthesis, the process that led to the COVID-19 vaccine but could also be used to create mass harm without guardrails in place.

New York was supposed to begin implementing its mandate that new buildings be constructed without fossil fuel equipment at the start of this year.

But that didn’t happen because, about two months earlier, the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul agreed to pause that mandate indefinitely.

That decision wasn’t announced to the public. It was disclosed in a court filing in a lawsuit brought against the state over that mandate by a propane gas company and several building trade groups. 

The lawsuit had been brought against the state Department of State, under which the regulations around the mandate had been promulgated and were set to be enforced starting in January. They were the result of the All Electric Buildings Act.

That law was tucked into the 2023 state budget. It was set to require buildings up to seven stories to be built without fossil fuel infrastructure by this year. The mandate is supposed to apply to taller buildings by 2029.

But in the court filing, the agency stipulated that it would suspend the regulations to implement the law as part of an agreement with the plaintiffs who brought the challenge against it.

At the time, U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby of the Northern District of New York had ruled against the argument brought by the law’s challengers that it conflicted with the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act.

Those challengers, the propane company and building trade groups, appealed that decision to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and asked Suddaby to enjoin the state from implementing the law in the meantime.

That’s what prompted the pause from the state Department of State. The agency had agreed in the filing with the challengers to suspend the law’s mandate until the case was decided by the Second Circuit.

That’s what happened Tuesday. Seven months after the state agreed to pause the law, the Second Circuit handed down its decision on the legality of the state’s electric buildings mandate.