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The natural gas saga is experiencing a new twist in the United States. New York is about to become the first state to ban the connection of new buildings to the gas network. The transition is therefore accelerating in this neighboring territory of Quebec, where 52% of households heat or cook with natural gas.
The details remain to be worked out, but the rule will apply from 2026 in most new buildings of less than seven floors, and from 2029 in the largest buildings. This measure appears in the budget proposed last Thursday by the Democratic Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, whose adoption this week is almost certain.
The ban is modeled after one enacted by New York City two years ago. Boilers and gas stoves are already banned in the metropolis. Over the past few years, dozens of US cities have banned natural gas, a fossil fuel, in one way or another. States have, however, been less quick to get involved in the environmental movement.
Heating a house with natural gas involves emissions of several tons of CO2 per year. The combustion of this gas inside residences, in particular by stove nozzles, also generates pollution that can exacerbate respiratory diseases.
In several territories, including Quebec, the authorities consider, however, that natural gas is an essential companion to electricity to ensure resilient heating, even in the context of energy transition. In the medium term, renewable natural gas could take over, according to them.
The United States being what it is, cutting off the gas has become a politically divided issue there. The gas lobby tries to convince the population that restricting access to this fossil fuel cuts off, at the same time, their freedom to cook with the desired appliance.
Quebec electricity
On our side of the border, Hydro-Québec and Énergir would like to restrict natural gas heating, in the residential sector, to very cold periods, when there is a lack of electrical power in the distributor’s cables to meet demand. Hydro-Québec always mentions the peak problem when towns here — like Montreal, Laval or Prévost — talk about cutting off the gas.
In New York State, the spike is strongest on summer days when the air conditioning is on full blast. Over the next few decades, by dint of replacing gas boilers with electric heat pumps, New York’s winter peak will however become increasingly important, until it supplants the summer peak.
“We don’t expect the new buildings to put too much pressure on the network during peak periods,” he said. Duty Lisa Dix, director of the New York branch of the Building Decarbonization Coalition, which brings together a host of actors aiming to decarbonize the built sector. The transition will be all the more manageable if, in parallel with electrification, we carry out a major energy efficiency project, she adds.
Remember that, to electrify its housing stock, New York will soon be able to count on 10 terawatt hours of Québec energy per year. A line under construction will allow Hydro-Québec to supply 20% of the city’s electricity consumption for 25 years, which will bring in billions of dollars for the public company.
“I find it ironic and deplorable that New York uses green electricity to decarbonize its peak, while here, we are told that it is not possible”, deplores Jean-Pierre Finet, analyst at the Regroupement des organisms environnements. in energy. Especially since our neighbors do it “with our electricity”, he drops.