TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — New York State lawmakers, including Democratic Assemblymember William Conrad, are urging Governor Kathy Hochul to halt the state's upcoming all-electric building mandate, citing concerns about rising energy costs and grid reliability issues.
Assemblymember Conrad has written a letter to the governor requesting a pause on policies that would require all new homes and buildings under seven stories to use electric appliances, including heat pumps, starting January 1.
"We're in a real bad situation that we need to address immediately," Conrad said.
The assemblyman is warning about the state's all-electric buildings mandate set to take effect on New Year's Day, pointing to energy supply concerns.
"We have a growing amount of energy demand and we only have so much supply," Conrad said.
Conrad believes the mandate needs to be reassessed, citing a recent report from the New York Independent System Operator that highlights future reliability issues with the state's power grid.
"Right now, based on future forecasts of energy yields, we are in a desperate spot," Conrad said. "We are going to need about 5,000 megawatts of energy in the next five years that we don't have."
WATCH: Lawmakers in New York State push to pause all-electric building mandate amid energy concerns
In his letter to Hochul, Conrad is asking the governor to pause the mandate and establish a task force to examine reliability issues and cost impacts for consumers.
"Unless we start to take a look, a good, hard look at these things, costs are going to continue to go up, reliability is going to be an issue, and we won't meet our carbon goals either," Conrad said.
Conrad says he has received support from across the state, including from Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes. Her office confirmed Tuesday that she will co-sign the letter requesting a pause to the mandate.
Gov. Hochul recently addressed concerns about the mandate during a visit to Rochester.
"You know we just received correspondence from some upstate members of the legislature, so we're looking at that seriously," Hochul said.
"I'm going to look at this with a very realistic approach and do what I can because my number one focus is affordability right now, because New Yorkers are suffering too much," Hochul said.
"We have to have, I think, a moderate approach because we need to meet that moment, and right now this moment is not ideal for this situation," Conrad said.
Conrad's office says his letter currently has 14 co-signers from across the state, with more expected by Friday. The letter will be sent to the governor next Monday.
The governor's office did not respond to requests for further comment.
