It’s May, life is in bloom, and the movement is strong. Last month, I attended a meeting where I joined many of the leading activists and organizations behind the growing number of Future of Gas (FOG) proceedings across the nation. Nearly one hundred people convened to engage in truly cutting-edge conversation around things like non-pipe alternatives, rate reform, and neighborhood-scale decarbonization, and I’m still feeling energized by that dialogue.
I’m equally excited to report that, this month, in the spirit of keeping us all informed and inspired, our team has unleashed a flurry of amazing content. I invite you to dig deep into our reimagined research page where you can find a lot of materials on building decarb and adjacent topics. You can also explore some of our amazing new thermal energy network (TEN) ownership model studies and TEN case studies.
Read on and enjoy!
Yours in Decarbonizing, Panama
EVENTS THIS MONTH
BDC National Policy Call: Connecticut
When: May 13, 2025, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT
Join us in May for a Connecticut-focused BDC National Policy Call hosted by BDC’s Director of State Mobilization, Matt Casale, and featuring Connecticut State Rep. Steven Winter, Shannon Laun from the Conservation Law Foundation, and Tom Wiehl, Legal & Regulatory Director at the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel. This call will examine the past, present, and future of the state’s building decarbonization policy.
We invite you to join us for our monthly California building decarbonization policy discussion! Learn about legislation, regulation, and what’s on the climate policy horizon as our coalition works to advance neighborhood-scale decarbonization, statewide healthy air standards, and energy affordability.
Join our own chef Rachelle Boucher and other sustainability changemakers, innovators, and leaders at the USGBC California Green Building Conference. Rachelle will deliver the Conference’s closing keynote—a newly created, funny, (somewhat) punny, and food-centric talk called “Breaking Up with an Old Flame: A (Healthy) New Passion for Electric Kitchens.”
The 2025 Trailblazers in Clean Energy City & State Malak Nassereddine, BDC’s New York Senior Utility & Regulatory Policy Manager, was named a Trailblazer in Clean Energy by City & State in their annual list of innovative industry figures, groundbreaking policymakers, and notable environmentalists and conservationists in New York.
Meet One of NYC’s First Housing Co-ops to Electrify Heating and Cooling Canary Media As the first multifamily structure in Manhattan to switch from a fossil-fuel district steam system to all-electric heating, cooling, and water heating, the 420 Beekman Hill co-op provides other buildings with an example of how to upgrade to zero-emission heat without disrupting their tenants' lives, says BDC’s Senior Technical Lead Ted Tiffany.
Some Los Angeles Fires Victims Are Rebuilding Their Homes Without Gas Appliances NPR Morning Edition Beckie Menten, BDC’s California Director, spoke with NPR’s Jeff Brady about how rebuilding all-electric after the devastating LA wildfires can actually save homeowners money, explaining that “you can save somewhere between $7,000 and $10,000 [in construction and appliance costs], by building an all-electric home as opposed to a dual-fuel home."
FROM OUR BLOG & NEWSROOM
Building Decarbonization Coalition Resources: Research Page BDC has expanded our website to include more resources on our research, including details on our research philosophy and key focus areas, as well as links to our latest research reports and webinars.
Thermal Energy Networks: Frequently Asked Questions Where do thermal energy networks (TENs) work best? Are they right for my neighborhood? How do water-filled pipes actually heat and cool? Our new Thermal Energy Networks: Frequently Asked Questions page answers these questions—and more. Browse the page to learn more about the different types of thermal energy sources TENs can use, how they can reduce energy costs, and how they affect jobs. And if you don’t see your question yet, submit it here!
Ownership: Getting TENs in the Ground The Building Decarbonization Coalition spoke with municipal employees, electric co-op members, and representatives from businesses, nonprofits, institutions, and regulated utilities to understand: What drives the choice of a thermal energy network (TEN) ownership model? Ownership: Getting TENs in the Ground summarizes common and emerging ownership models and includes three new case studies of real-world decarbonization with TENs, in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Edmonton, Alberta; and West Union, Iowa.
Building Back Better: All-Electric Homes of the Future The Center for Law, Energy & the Environment of Berkeley Law recently released a report outlining the benefits of rebuilding all-electric after the wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena communities. This blog examines the findings from this report, which determined that all-electric construction can not only cut down on rebuilding costs and expedite construction timelines, but can also ensure that the rebuilt homes are safer, healthier, and better equipped to withstand the climate challenges of the future.
POLICY UPDATES
California
The California Legislature advanced two BDC co-sponsored building electrification bills, SB 282 and AB 39. SB 282 would standardize heat pump permitting, and AB 39 would require cities to prepare for building electrification by incorporating it into their planning processes. The Legislature also advanced several other energy bills, including two bills that would help protect Californians from exposure to extreme heat in buildings.
The Maryland Department of the Environment revised its timeline for its Zero-Emission Heating Equipment Standard (ZEHES) while maintaining its timeline for its Clean Heat Standard. They have also scheduled a stakeholder meeting for Thursday, May 15th, on the Maryland Heating Fuel Provider Reporting Program, which will inform the Clean Heat Standard and other future regulatory programs. Heat pump rebates provided to Marylanders from EmPOWER Maryland, the state’s flagship energy efficiency program, were significantly increased to as much as $15,000 per unit.
BDC submitted legislative recommendations to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission's Thermal Energy Network Work Group on how the Minnesota Legislature can amend existing statutes and develop new ones to advance TENs across the state. Meanwhile, with no building decarbonization bills included in the Minnesota House and Senate’s energy omnibus bills, the prospects for passage of new building decarbonization legislation in Minnesota this year appear dim.
New York’s Department of Public Service (DPS) released a Grid Flexibility Study, which incorporates an analysis of thermal energy networks and thermal storage on the grid, and the first iteration of its Grid of the Future Plan. DPS also released a white paper with a proposed framework for utilities to use when determining whether new or expanded electric service can be reasonably provided by the electric system to a fully electrified building. Governor Kathy Hochul announced that her proposed budget, which should be finalized this week, includes a record $1 billion for climate priorities, some of which would be allocated to thermal energy networks.
Washington state lawmakers passed a 2025-27 budget that includes support for the state’s Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates, Weatherization Plus Health, and Building Energy Upgrade Navigator programs. Lawmakers also passed HB 1514, which builds on HB 2131, the thermal energy networks (TENs) pilot projects bill passed last session. HB 1514 brings thermal energy companies under the oversight of the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), offers exemptions for smaller TENs systems and those already in development, and allows electric utilities to offer discounted rates to TEN operators to enhance electrical grid efficiency.
Furthering our commitment to knowledge sharing, we are excited to continue our ‘Report Roundup’ segment, which highlights insightful reports from other organizations in the building decarbonization movement.
The Future of Geothermal in Pennsylvania Project Innerspace, February 2025 Pennsylvania could potentially increase investment in its geothermal energy resources through supportive policies and incentives. This report covers the basics of geothermal, where to develop geothermal in Pennsylvania, as well as regulatory, policy, and stakeholder considerations.
Electricity Rates that Keep Bills Down after Electrification of Home Heating American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, April 2025 This report examines energy bills in four cold-climate states—Minnesota, Colorado, Maine, and Connecticut—under various home heating electrification scenarios to provide recommendations for policies and programs that can mitigate potential cost increases. In terms of rate design, it finds that offering a heat-pump specific electricity rate is the best way to encourage heat pump adoption and keep energy bills down.
Tackling the PJM Electricity Cost Crisis Evergreen Collaborative, April 2025 PJM’s interconnection process and two scenarios for the future of this process—a status quo scenario and a scenario where the interconnection queue is reformed—are examined in this report. In the scenario where the interconnection queue is reformed, residential customers would see a 20% reduction in bills, clean energy resources would deploy an additional 57 GW of renewable energy capacity, and the PJM region would gaim an average of 313,000 net additional jobs each year of the study period.
FROM OUR FRIENDS
The US Green Building Council California (USGBC-CA) has launched its Wildfire Rebuilding Guide to clarify resilient, sustainable, and cost-effective pathways forward and help inform homeowners, designers, and contractors during the rebuilding process after the 2025 Los Angeles fires.
