‘All-Electric’ Movement Picks Up Speed, Catching Some Off Guard (original) (raw)

Business|‘All-Electric’ Movement Picks Up Speed, Catching Some Off Guard

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/business/all-electric-green-development.html

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As cities across the nation embrace electric power as a cleaner alternative to natural gas, developers are scrambling to keep up.

Five new, all-electric townhomes built by Green Canopy near the Ballard Locks in Seattle. Some developers are establishing their own goals to reduce carbon emissions. Credit...Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

Feb. 4, 2020

When Berkeley, Calif., became the first city in the country to ban natural gas hookups in new construction last July, no one knew the effects would ripple out so far and so fast.

The Berkeley ban was part of an effort to wean developers off buildings that consume fossil fuels, a cause of global warming, and promote cleaner electric power. And it spurred other communities in the state to enact ordinances to encourage all-electric construction.

The effort has spread to other parts of the country. The Massachusetts town of Brookline passed a prohibition on new gas connections, and municipalities near it are poised to do the same.

Now major cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, are in various stages of considering pro-electric legislation as part of the “electrify everything” movement.

As interest quickly blossoms, real estate and construction industries are scrambling to keep up. Some national organizations that represent builders and developers have yet to formulate a position.

Their members are not of one mind, however. Some developers and builders are already heading down the all-electric path in an effort to meet their own goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, even if not legally required to do so. But others are balking at the fast rollout, saying they want to retain the option of using gas or simply believe the new rules are being put into action too quickly.

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