Maryland county first on East Coast to ban natural gas heat for new buildings

Montgomery County, Md., on Tuesday enacted the East Coast's first countywide ban on using natural gas for heating purposes in new buildings.

County Executive Marc Elrich has not yet signed the ban into law, but is expected to do so as he has previously voiced support for the measure, according to Energy Wire. The nine members of the Montgomery County Council, all Democrats, voted unanimously to enact the Comprehensive Building Decarbonization plan, which is slated to take effect in 2026.

A template of the plan, introduced earlier this year, stated that 50% of the county's greenhouse gas emissions for the year 2017 came from environmental inefficiencies, which the new all-electric standards would gradually work to reduce.

The ban provides exempts for restaurants, manufacturing plants, crematories, and life science labs while granting certain public buildings and larger structures a delay through 2027.

Montgomery County is the largest in Maryland. Bordering Washington, D.C., it is home to roughly 1.1 million people. County councilors expect their passage of a ban would serve to inspire other municipalities to enact similar plans.

D.C. itself passed a plan in April to require that new buildings and substantial renovations to existing structures achieve net-zero emissions by 2026. New York City, meanwhile, enacted a ban on fossil fuel combustion in new building infrastructure in 2021.

A fiscal impact statement from the county's Office of Management and Budget found that the standards could increase construction costs in the county, but suggested the "lower operating casts" stemming from electric-heat buildings could act to offset those hikes.

Councilmember Hans Reimer, who was the ban's lead sponsor, said "Montgomery County will now be a national leader in the push for electrification as a solution for climate change."

Climate activists celebrated the Montgomery County ban while fossil fuel advocates have warned of potentially cost increases stemming from it. Washington Gas Light Co., a company that provides gas to more than 1 million customers in the county, said the council was "dismissing other proven opportunities for decarbonization" that would involve continued use of natural gas, per Energy Wire.

Washington state and California have previously approved statewide bans on using fossil fuels for building heat, but no states on the East Coast have yet done so.