The Chicago City Council will consider an ordinance that would ban the use of natural gas in most new buildings in the Windy City in an effort to fight climate change.
Ald. Maria Hadden, who is sponsoring the Clean and Affordable Buildings Ordinance, told the Chicago Tribune that the measure will be introduced next week on Jan. 24. The ordinance would set an emission standard that natural gas already does not meet, paving the way for electric heat and appliances that would help slash greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is a matter of real survival and the future of our city — and especially our economic future,” Hadden said. “We’re being forced in this direction by nature, but also by policy and by business and industry. People are making these decisions because it’s economical, it’s healthier, it’s safer.”
The ordinance would prohibit the combustion of any substance that emits 25 kilograms or more of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units of energy, a similar measure enacted by New York City in 2021. Some buildings and equipment, such as hospitals, laboratories, backup generators, and commercial cooking equipment, would be exempt from the new emissions standard.
Supporters of the ordinance include consumer advocates concerned about high gas bills, as well as environmentalists and the Illinois Green Alliance, a group that supports the state’s green building industry.
Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said Chicagoans could save roughly $11,000 to $24,000 over 20 years if they go all-electric in their homes, pointing to a 2022 analysis for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Status quo with regards to heating in Chicago is unsustainable in almost every sense of the term,” Moskowitz told the Chicago Tribune. “People’s gas bills are already extremely high, the gas utility is trying to get rate increases, people are paying a minimum of $50 a month before they even use any gas, and we have vast swaths of the city structurally unable to afford their heating bills.”
Chicago joins a list of several other cities across the United States moving toward electric appliances and heat in new buildings to meet local, state, and national climate goals. Cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and many smaller cities have passed ordinances that limit or prohibit natural gas use altogether in new buildings.
The American Gas Association said in a statement that natural gas has been instrumental in the nation’s work to meet environmental and economic goals.
“From providing affordable energy to consumers to driving down emissions, the benefits this fuel has for our nation are tangible and impossible to ignore,” American Gas Association President and CEO Karen Harbert said in a statement to the outlet. “Any push to ban natural gas in Chicago would raise costs to consumers, jeopardize environmental progress and deny affordable energy to underserved populations.”
Peoples Gas, a natural gas utility in Chicago, called the ordinance a “terrible idea for Chicago.”
“It would increase costs and risk reliability for everyone, especially during the coldest days of the year like we are seeing this week,” Peoples Gas said to the outlet.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
It also argued all-electric heat would cost Chicago residents two times more than what they would pay for natural gas, and emissions may go up because renewable energy provides less than 4% of the city’s energy on any day.
ComEd, which services northern Illinois, reported that it receives 42% of electricity from natural gas, 33% from nuclear power, 18% from coal, 4% from wind, 1% from solar, and 1% from hydropower.