October is here and a ton has happened in the last month, so let’s jump right in.
Our fourth annual Legislative Roundup is live—this year we tracked 130 bills and budget items, of which 40 were passed. As if that isn’t momentum enough, we also have for you our Q3 Momentum report highlighting that heat pumps continue to outsell furnaces—a nice reminder as cooler weather arrives. And let’s keep spreading the word about the federal tax credits for heat pumps which expire on Dec 31st, 2025.
A couple of weeks ago, during Climate Week, New York Governor Hochul announced she is allocating $200 million for thermal energy networks on state campuses, and $200 million more to programs that help people install heat pumps. That same week, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) hosted business and government leaders to talk about how to start implementing their recently introduced Multistate Action Plan for accelerating the transition to zero-emission residential buildings.
Meanwhile, Fortune Magazinereports that two-thirds of kitchen designers and professionals say that in the next three years, induction will be the most popular cooking type. Don’t miss our new Kitchen Currents blog and video featuring the beloved all-electric restaurant Marjorie in Seattle.
And while we are headed into fall, and all the cozy feelings that can bring, I’m glad to share that the California Legislature is still thinking about extreme heat. They have passed a first-in-the-nation policy designed to ensure all residential units can maintain a safe maximum indoor temperature.
So much great momentum! And still so much fun left to come this year. Thanks for being a part of it all.
Momentum, our quarterly research report, offers a holistic, state-based view of BDC’s four key indicators of building decarbonization momentum: market trends, neighborhood-scale projects, future of gas planning, and future of heat solutions.
Highlights from the Q3 report include:
So far in 2025, heat pumps have outsold fossil fuel furnaces by 26%.
In 2024, the U.S. installed nearly twice as many heat pumps as Europe and China.
Starting November 1, Massachusetts households that use heat pumps will be able to save an average of $540 this winter, as a new seasonal heat pump rate goes into effect for all three of the state’s electric utilities.
A new Future of Gas Proceeding officially opened in Maryland, bringing the count to 15 Future of Gas proceedings since 2020.
Twenty-six utility-led thermal energy network (TENs) pilots are now advancing across eight states.
For the fourth consecutive year, BDC has analyzed trends in building decarbonization legislation across the U.S. In that time period, we’ve clocked 456 bills that were filed in 37 states. Of these 456 bills, 165—over a third—became law.
In 2025, we identified 130 bills in 27 states that would further building decarbonization goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, making homes and businesses more resilient, protecting communities from the extreme effects of climate change, and prioritizing the workers who make a clean energy transition possible. Of these 130 bills, 40 passed.
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.
“New York needs a paradigm shift in building decarbonization to upgrade entire neighborhoods so we can create affordability, advance projects, build the industry and supply chain and support thousands of union jobs,” said Allison Considine, NY Senior Campaign Manager for the Building Decarbonization Coalition.
Statement in Response to Governor Hochul’s Sustainable Future Fund Announcement “The Building Decarbonization Coalition applauds Governor Hochul’s leadership in advancing $200 million for Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) that will pioneer projects at the University at Buffalo, SUNY Purchase, and Stony Brook University, reducing emissions and lowering energy costs,” said Lisa Dix, New York Director for the Building Decarbonization Coalition.
Cap-and-Invest Program Reauthorized with Groundwork for Stronger Building Decarbonization Commitments “AB 1207 provides the foundation for long-term climate progress in California,” said Beckie Menten, California Director at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. “The state’s climate policy is working––our electricity is increasingly cleaner and growing at record speed to power our homes, buildings, and businesses. We look forward to working with state leaders to keep the momentum and secure the funding needed to deliver affordable, climate-ready homes for Californians.”
Statement on the Release of NESCAUM’s Multistate Action Plan “This new NESCAUM Action Plan provides practical solutions to states seeking to lower their residents’ utility bills, protect their residents from extreme hot weather events, and curb the emission of pollution that harms their residents’ health and contributes to climate change,” said Matt Casale, Managing Director of States & Regions at the Building Decarbonization Coalition.
California Establishes First-in-the-Nation Policy for Safe Indoor Temperatures “We commend Senator Stern and the Legislature for their leadership on SB 655 and their recognition that protecting Californians from extreme heat is a matter of life and health—especially for working-class communities who face the greatest risks,” said Beckie Menten, California Director, Building Decarbonization Coalition.
In our premiere Kitchen Currents blog and video series, which highlights chefs and restaurateurs reimagining what it means to cook sustainably, we visit Marjorie—a beloved Seattle restaurant led by Donna Moodie that uses a fully electric kitchen.
Hear from Donna on the challenges, rewards, and must-know lessons of building an all-electric commercial kitchen with induction cooktops, including tips on equipment, venting, and design.
This series is part of BDC’s broader effort to uplift chefs' decarbonization stories and equip restaurateurs with the tools and inspiration they need to make climate-forward decisions.
Lawmakers could expand interconnection capabilities, invest in geothermal technology networks to address energy demand WAND-TV In recent testimony to the Illinois legislature about the energy omnibus bill they plan to consider during their upcoming veto session, BDC’s Illinois State Manager, Yami Newell, explained how this bill would support the development of pilot thermal energy network projects that will produce no pollution, lower the state’s dependence on fossil fuel sources, and create family-sustaining jobs.
Hold Your Houses: Politico In the face of a looming statewide freeze on new building code updates, a wave of California cities moved quickly to adopt climate-friendly building code adjustments this summer. BDC’s Robin Tung shares that Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Moreno Valley all adopted provisions encouraging heat pumps when new cooling systems are replaced or installed, while San Francisco fast-tracked an all-electric policy for major renovations.
Hochul launches $1B clean climate plan as state, federal energy agendas diverge WNET NEWS10 BDC’s New York Director, Lisa Dix, says Governor Hochul’s plan to use the state’s Sustainable Future Fund to invest $50 million into the EmPower+ low- and moderate-income energy efficiency and building electrification program and $200 million to build thermal energy networks will “lower energy costs for families and create thousands of good-paying jobs.”
This Town Was One of the First in the Nation to Install a Geothermal Network. Now Others Are Warming Up to the Idea. Inside Climate News Years before state legislatures began requiring utilities to pilot thermal energy networks (TENs), a town in rural Iowa took advantage of federal grants to build a municipally-owned TEN. Since 2014, the West Union geothermal network has been providing high-efficiency, fossil-fuel-free heating and cooling to downtown businesses and public buildings, and saving money for building owners and taxpayers along the way. BDC’s Jess Silber-Byrne explains why this TEN is a “celebrity” among systems in the U.S.
POLICY UPDATES
Each month, BDC summarizes key building decarbonization policy-related news from the states in which we currently work. For more details on policy-related news in each state, visit the state’s policy page by clicking the 'Learn More' button beneath the state’s summary.
California
California lawmakers advanced several key energy policies as the legislative season came to a close. AB 39 (Zbur), a BDC-cosponsored bill requiring local electrification planning, was signed by Governor Newsom. BDC-supported bills SB 655 (Stern), establishing safe indoor temperature standards, and AB 806 (Connolly), protecting cooling system installations in mobile park communities, were approved and await the Governor’s signature. State leaders also struck a last-minute deal to reauthorize Cap-and-Trade as Cap-and-Invest, with provisions to improve energy affordability and support home electrification. In addition, the Legislature passed SB 254 (Becker) to stabilize energy rates, fund wildfire mitigation, and accelerate transmission infrastructure development.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is nearing a deadline to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2035, as required by the state’s clean heat plan. Colorado utility companies are lobbying the Commission to set a target substantially lower than initially contemplated by the Commission, due to the recent elimination of federal incentives for emission reduction technologies. Colorado’s attorney general agreed not to enforce the state’s new gas-warning label law until a federal court rules on a lawsuit brought by stove manufacturers challenging the law.
BDC organized a tour of Local 150’s William E. Dugan geothermal training facility in Wilmington, Illinois, on September 23. This training center—the only one of its kind in the nation—provides Illinois’ union workforce with the skills necessary to build geothermal infrastructure capable of powering the state’s clean energy future. In addition to an Illinois state senator, an Illinois state representative, and staff from the Illinois Governor’s Office, several representatives of organizations that are part of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition joined the tour as well. The tour arrives at a critical moment, with Illinois legislators preparing to consider an energy omnibus bill during their October veto session that contains legislation encouraging the development of thermal energy networks in the state.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state’s $1 billion Sustainable Future Program will invest $200 million in thermal energy networks (TENs) and $50 million in the EmPower+ energy efficiency and building electrification program. BDC submitted a detailed comment signed by dozens of partners and key stakeholders on the draft New York State Energy Plan (SEP). This comment focuses on the need for the SEP to rein in unnecessary gas infrastructure investments, advance electrification, and utilize thermal energy networks for neighborhood-scale decarbonization. BDC and UpgradeNY hosted briefings for New York State legislators to hear from the utilities on their engineering and customer protection plans for their Utility Thermal Energy Network (UTEN) pilot projects. BDC is finalizing and will submit its own comments on these plans this month.
The Washington Supreme Court will hear a 2066 ballot initiative case after a lower court invalidated the initiative in March. This initiative sought to invalidate and prohibit various building decarbonization codes, policies, and efforts. Additionally, the Washington State Department of Commerce anticipates opening applications for new funding from the state’s Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program (HEAR) this fall. HEAR provides households and small businesses with rebates and other incentives to help them purchase and install high-efficiency electric equipment and appliances.
EcoChef One of BDC’s first Chefluencers, EcoChef Cofounder Chef Christopher Galarza, was named to the 2025 Grist 50 for his work advocating “for the adoption of induction stoves in commercial kitchens.” Congratulations Chef Christopher—we are proud to join you in your efforts to help the hospitality industry “understand that there is a better way of doing things.”
The Climate Jobs Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School The Climate Jobs Institute’s new report—Key Interventions: How New York Can Still Achieve Its Climate, Jobs, and Equity Mandates—outlines several approaches, including reimagining utilities and implementing cap-and-invest, that the State of New York can take to meet the goals set in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (CLCPA) while also expanding access to high-quality union jobs and making the state more affordable.
