Repealing the 100-Foot Rule: This “Clean Energy” Plan Isn’t Clean – or Affordable
Governor Hochul has an opportunity to turn her promises on affordability into real action: By vetoing legislation that ends a decades-long effort to transition New York away from oil heat, she can prevent higher energy costs for families across the state.
This so-called “100-foot rule” legislation will shift additional costs of replacing dirty oil boilers onto working families, rather than requiring utilities to cover part of the bill as they have for 40 years. Today, utilities must allow homeowners to connect to a gas line if it’s within 100 feet of their home, helping ease the cost for homeowners looking to get rid of an oil burner.
Electric bills are already going up all across the state and, with the NYS Public Service Commission approving rate hikes, that will mean double-digit increases for many families every month. Now is hardly the time to make things even worse by adding new costs for families who want to do the right thing and get rid of their oil boilers. What’s even more perplexing is that utility companies are not pushing to move these costs onto homeowners – it’s misguided legislators advancing a policy that ignores the practical realities of family life in New York.
Since 1985, the “100-foot rule” has encouraged New Yorkers to shrink their carbon footprint by converting dirty fuel oil furnaces to cleaner-burning natural gas. Families save thousands by connecting to a gas main at no charge when it’s within 100 feet of their home. If Governor Hochul signs this legislation into law, homeowners will be forced to cover the full cost themselves, ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 per connection.
The rule was created to help clean up our environment, and it has worked: Statewide residential carbon emissions from fuel oil have been cut in half. Over the past 40 years, New York’s population has grown by 2 million people, yet annual carbon emissions are 3 million tons lower. That is the equivalent of switching 675,000 gas cars to electric vehicles.
In other words, the 100-foot rule has been good for the environment and good for consumers. So why change it now? To be fair, our legislators argue the shift will further reduce emissions. But in reality, it amounts to wishful thinking at the expense of working families.
In practice, this change will mean fewer people convert to natural gas furnaces, leaving oil burners chugging along for years to come. The added costs are significant, creating real disincentives for households that want to switch. That’s not progress—it’s protecting the dirty status quo.
In truth, this debate is really about eliminating natural gas, even if it means keeping oil burners alive for years to come. But natural gas is significantly cleaner than oil and cheaper than other energy sources. We all want to see renewable energy succeed, but natural gas can protect both our environment and family budgets as we make that transition. Forcing an immediate shift to all-electric homes will only drive monthly bills higher, as electric heat pumps typically cost nearly $600 more per year than natural gas furnaces. Maybe an extra $50 per month doesn’t sound like much to Albany legislators, but for working families already paying electricity rates 43 percent above the national average—plus higher grocery and household bills—it adds up fast.
There are still some 1.2 million homes in New York using oil heat, including 470,000 on Long Island alone. We should be incentivizing people to switch to cleaner natural gas, not making it more expensive or banning natural gas altogether.
New York can’t reach a cleaner energy future by sidelining natural gas. We need more of it, not less, as part of an ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy that also invests in renewables and even nuclear where appropriate. Progress doesn’t need to punish working families.
Governor Hochul is right to focus on ‘kitchen table’ issues. But actions speak loudest, and she can demonstrate she truly understands by vetoing this misguided “100-foot rule” legislation.
Mike Florio is CEO of the Long Island Builders Institute, and Mike Fazio is Executive Director of the New York State Builders Association.
