The push to eliminate fossil fuels from buildings has gained remarkable momentum across the United States, with dozens of cities enacting policies that restrict or prohibit natural gas connections in new construction. Known as the electrify everything movement, this campaign aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by replacing gas-burning furnaces, water heaters, and cooking ranges with highly efficient electric alternatives. The movement has spread from its origins in California to communities in Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, and beyond, reshaping how homes and commercial buildings are designed. For builders and developers, understanding these shifts is essential, particularly as the broader construction industry grapples with its own carbon footprint. The scale of the challenge becomes clear when examining carbon emissions by the construction industry understanding embodied carbon and the path to net zero building, which underscores why policymakers are targeting building energy use as a key climate lever.
The Rise of Natural Gas Bans in American Cities
In July 2019, Berkeley, California, became the first city in the United States to adopt an outright prohibition on natural gas connections in most new buildings. This landmark decision sparked a wave of similar ordinances across the state. By March 2020, Santa Cruz had become the 30th city or county in California to enact a measure limiting or prohibiting natural gas use in new construction. The ordinance required all new building permit applications to submit a declaration that their designs were natural gas free. Other California cities that followed included Menlo Park, home to several of Silicon Valley’s largest technology companies, and San Jose, the tenth most populous city in the nation.
The movement soon crossed state boundaries. In November 2019, Brookline, a large suburb of Boston, became the first municipality in Massachusetts to pass an all-electric requirement for new buildings. Dozens of other cities began considering similar measures. Seattle contemplated a ban on natural gas systems in new construction. Bellingham, Washington, explored outlawing gas heating in both new and existing buildings. Takoma Park, Maryland, passed a resolution to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035, with plans to develop ordinances phasing out gas appliances. Ann Arbor, Michigan, unveiled a parallel climate plan shortly after. These local actions align with broader efforts to decarbonize the built environment, as explored in codes and standards update carbon neutral targets carbon absorbing concrete and modular innovation reshape home building.
| City | State | Policy Type | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | California | Gas ban in new buildings | 2019 |
| Menlo Park | California | All-electric mandate | 2019 |
| San Jose | California | Gas restriction | 2019 |
| Santa Cruz | California | Gas free declaration | 2020 |
| Brookline | Massachusetts | All-electric requirement | 2020 |
Even advocates were surprised by the pace of adoption. Sage Welch, who leads outreach for the Building Decarbonization Coalition, noted that twelve months prior only a couple of California jurisdictions were in early discussions. The speed at which cities embraced the policy exceeded expectations across the board.
Why All-Electric Buildings Are Now More Feasible Than Ever
Two converging trends have made all-electric construction far more practical than it was a decade ago. First, the electricity grid has become significantly cleaner. In California, more than half of electricity consumed is now zero carbon, and state law requires that share to reach 60 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2045. Nationally, about 38 percent of electricity was generated from zero carbon sources in 2019, up from roughly 23 percent in 1980. This shift means that powering buildings with electricity produces far fewer emissions than it did when coal dominated the grid.
Second, electric appliances have undergone substantial improvements in efficiency. Air source heat pumps can now heat and cool spaces effectively across a wide range of climates, including in cold northeastern winters. These systems transfer heat rather than generating it, making them far more efficient than older electric resistance heaters. Modern heat pump water heaters and induction cooktops provide performance matching or exceeding gas counterparts. Understanding material performance in varying conditions is important for builders, and resources such as shall reversible moisture movement be taken into account in estimating movement for movement joints offer guidance on how building materials respond to environmental changes.
Key benefits of modern electric appliances include:
- Heat pumps achieve four to five times greater efficiency than gas furnaces, delivering more heating or cooling energy per unit of electricity consumed
- Induction cooktops heat faster than gas burners and provide more precise temperature control
- Heat pump water heaters use about half the energy of conventional electric resistance models
- All-electric homes eliminate combustion byproducts such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter, improving indoor air quality
Pierre Delforge, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, explained that natural gas has long been perceived as the lower cost option for space and water heating, but that is no longer true with heat pumps. Their superior efficiency shifts the economics decisively in favor of electric systems, particularly in new construction where the avoided cost of gas connection adds further savings.
The Economic Case for Building Electrification
The economics of all-electric construction are compelling, particularly for new buildings where savings begin before the first appliance is installed. Building all-electric eliminates the cost of connecting to the municipal gas main, eliminates gas plumbing, and removes the need for venting systems. These upfront savings offset any premium on electric appliances, and operational savings accumulate over the building’s life.
Over 60 percent of homes nationwide rely on gas or other fossil fuels for heating. Burning these fuels for heating, cooking, and water heating contributes roughly 10 percent of total US greenhouse gas emissions, generating 560 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. In California, energy use in buildings accounts for a quarter of the state’s emissions. Even as the power sector has reduced its carbon intensity, building emissions have held steady, which is why policymakers are now targeting them. The construction industry’s material choices also matter significantly, as detailed in carbon emissions in construction how concrete and building materials are changing.
Maine has taken a different approach from the gas ban model. In 2019, the state passed a law setting a target of 100,000 heat pumps installed in homes by 2025. With roughly 500,000 homes statewide, this represents the most ambitious building decarbonization policy in the country. Maine doubled rebates offered for heat pumps to help meet the target, demonstrating that incentives can accelerate adoption just as effectively as mandates.
Large cities such as Philadelphia and Washington, DC, are developing transition plans for decarbonizing gas utilities by exploring options for retiring gas pipelines and fully electrifying heating systems. This approach recognizes that continuing gas hookups while planning for a low carbon future creates stranded asset risk for utilities and ratepayers alike.
Equity Challenges in the Transition to All-Electric Housing
As the electrify everything movement gains traction, policymakers are working to ensure that low income households are not left behind. The residential solar boom offers cautionary lessons, as affluent early adopters drove the initial market while lower income households took longer to gain access. The all-electric movement has followed a similar trajectory, with most municipalities that have passed gas bans being upper and middle class communities.
Bruce Nilles, who leads the building electrification program at the Rocky Mountain Institute, emphasized that a more equitable approach is needed. Everyone has to replace appliances eventually, and making the transition seamless through incentives and financing can prevent low income households from bearing a disproportionate burden. California’s Public Utilities Commission funded pilot programs to help disadvantaged communities, awarding $50 million to electrify appliances in 1,600 low income households in the San Joaquin Valley. A further $60 million was set aside for financial incentives supporting all-electric low income housing.
Challenges remain. Diane Bailey, executive director of Menlo Spark, noted that affordable housing developers already face many regulatory hurdles, particularly in securing tax credits. Adding different all-electric requirements across cities creates additional complexity. Some advocates argue for statewide standards to better serve affordable housing developers. For building professionals navigating these shifts, understanding what is carbon concrete understanding low carbon concrete technology and its role in sustainable construction provides context on how material innovation complements building electrification as a decarbonization strategy.
The Gas Industry Response and Emerging Legal Battles
The rapid spread of gas bans has provoked organized opposition. In February 2020, Arizona’s legislature passed a measure preventing local governments from prohibiting natural gas infrastructure, with support from gas utilities and the home building industry. Lawmakers in Missouri, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Mississippi proposed similar bills blocking local gas bans. These preemption efforts reflect the industry’s determination to preserve its market in the face of shifting policy.
Gas industry trade groups have launched advertising campaigns against city level gas bans, characterizing them as extreme and arguing they eliminate consumer choice. Gas utilities, developers, and home builder associations have testified against all-electric mandates, contending they will drive up costs for developers, restaurants, and other businesses. The American Petroleum Institute announced plans to restructure its field offices to better push back against the national spread of the movement.
Mark Kresowik, eastern region deputy director for the Sierra Club, acknowledged that the gas industry is powerful but noted a growing recognition that electrification offers benefits including lower costs, better health outcomes, and improved safety. He characterized the transition as inevitable, similar to the move away from coal power. The embodied carbon in existing building materials also demands attention, and tackling embodied carbon remains a parallel priority for the construction industry working toward net zero goals.
Legal questions surrounding the bans remain unresolved. Several Massachusetts municipalities await the state attorney general’s ruling on the legality of Brookline’s gas ban bylaw. Newton, another Boston suburb, initiated hearings on a potential gas ban covering new buildings and major renovations. Despite the challenges of conducting city business during the pandemic, councilors pushed their ordinance planning forward. These legal battles will shape how the electrify everything movement evolves, determining whether local governments retain authority to set building energy policy or whether state level preemption will override their efforts.
Conclusion: The Path Toward Widespread Building Electrification
The electrify everything movement represents one of the most significant shifts in residential and commercial building policy in decades. What began as a single ordinance in Berkeley has grown into a nationwide campaign touching cities across the political and geographic spectrum. Cleaner electricity generation, more efficient heat pump technology, and compelling economics have aligned to make all-electric construction a practical standard for new buildings. The movement faces genuine challenges, including opposition from well funded gas industry interests, legal uncertainties, and the need to ensure equitable benefits for low income communities. Yet the trajectory is clear. Building electrification is increasingly viewed not as an experimental policy but as a necessary component of any serious climate strategy. As the construction industry evolves in response to environmental pressures, innovations in materials complement the shift toward all-electric buildings. Exploring developments such as carbon concrete highlights how reducing emissions across both building operations and materials is essential for achieving a truly sustainable built environment.