Prohibits adoption of any State rule or regulation mandating electric heating or water heating systems in buildings prior to issuance of DCA report.

A1254

ASSEMBLY, No. 1254

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman S.Kean, Assemblywoman Dunn, Assemblyman
Sauickie, Assemblywomen Reynolds-Jackson and Fantasia

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits adoption of any State rule or regulation
mandating electric heating or water heating systems in buildings prior to
issuance of DCA report.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning certain electric heating and water
heating systems and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.�
a.� Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, or rule or regulation
adopted pursuant thereto, to the contrary, the Department of Community Affairs,
the Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, or
any other State agency shall not adopt any rule or regulation that mandates the
use of an electric heating system as the sole or primary means of heating
buildings in the State, including but not limited to, residences or commercial
buildings, until the Department of Community Affairs issues the report required
by section 2 of this act.

����� b.�
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, or rule or regulation adopted
pursuant thereto, to the contrary, the Department of Community Affairs, the
Department of Environmental Protection, the Board of Public Utilities, or any
other State agency shall not adopt any rule or regulation that mandates the use
of an electric water heating system as the sole or primary means of providing
hot water to buildings in the State, including but not limited to, residences
or commercial buildings, until the Department of Community Affairs issues the
report required by section 2 of this act.

����� c.�
Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate or modify the ability of
a State agency or a private entity to implement a program to incentivize the
voluntary installation or use of electric heating systems or electric water
heating systems.

����� d.�
Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate or modify the ability of
a person to utilize an electric heating system as the sole or primary means of
heating a building, or to utilize an electric water heating system as the sole
or primary means of providing hot water to a building.

����� 2.�
a.� No later than 18 months after the effective date of this act, the
Department of Community Affairs, in cooperation with the Department of
Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities, shall hold a
minimum of six public hearings, at least one of which shall be located in each
of the northern, central, and southern regions of the State, on the
electrification of space and water heating in residences and commercial
buildings. �The hearings shall solicit input, at a minimum, on the following:

����� (1)�
the cost of retrofitting an existing building to use solely electric heating
systems and electric water heating systems;

����� (2)�
the increased cost, if any, for the construction of a new building that uses
solely electric heating systems and electric water heating systems, versus that
of a new building that includes natural gas heating systems;

����� (3)� the
cost of operating a building that uses solely electric heating systems and
electric water heating systems, including any applicable demand charges for
electricity;

����� (4)� the
impact on ratepayers to modify the State's electric distribution system to
accommodate residential and commercial buildings that use solely electric
heating systems and electric water heating systems, as well as the increased
use of electric vehicles;

����� (5)� the
impact on low-income ratepayers of the modifications described in paragraph (4)
of this subsection;

����� (6)� the
potential for meeting the State's greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals
established by the "Global Warming Response Act," P.L.2007, c.112
(C.26:2C-37 et al.), by using low- and zero-emission alternatives to existing
fossil fuels;

����� (7)� the
potential reduction in air pollution and increase in public health benefits
that may result from an electrified residential and commercial building sector;

����� (8)� the
impact a mandate for the use of electric heating systems and electric water
heating systems in residential and commercial buildings would have on workers
in the fossil fuel industry and what jobs with comparable compensation and
lifestyles are available as a replacement;

����� (9)� the
environmental and economic impacts of using low- and zero-emission alternatives
to existing fossil fuels in existing residential and commercial buildings,
versus a mandate for the use of electric heating systems and electric water
heating systems;

����� (10)�
the greenhouse gas emission reduction cost, in dollars per ton of greenhouse
gas, for both the use of low- and zero-emission alternatives to fossil fuels in
existing residential and commercial buildings in the State, and a mandate for
the use of electric heating systems and electric water heating systems;

����� (11)��� an
examination of impacts to consumers, utilities, and State and local governments
of the costs described in paragraph (10) of this subsection; and

����� (12)��� the
impact of a mandate for the use of electric heating systems and electric water
heating systems in residential and commercial buildings on the accessibility
to, and eligibility for, government utility assistance programs for residents
of the State.

����� b.�
No later than 24 months after the effective date of this act, the Department of
Community Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Environmental
Protection and the Board of Public Utilities, shall prepare and submit to the
Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the
Legislature a report that summarizes the information solicited at the public
hearings required by subsection a. of this section and recommends legislative
and regulatory actions related to greenhouse gas emissions from residential and
commercial buildings in the State.

���� 3.� This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would prohibit the
Department of Community Affairs (DCA), the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP), the Board of Public Utilities (BPU), or any other State
agency from adopting rules and regulations that mandate the use of electric
heating systems or electric water heating systems as the sole or primary means
of heating buildings or providing hot water to buildings, including, but not
limited to, residences or commercial buildings.� The prohibition would remain
in effect until the DCA issues a report on the costs and benefits of electric
heating, as required by the bill.

���� The bill would not prohibit a
State agency from offering incentives for the voluntary installation or use of
an electric heating or electric water heating system.� In addition, the bill
would not prohibit a person from installing or using an electric heating system
as the sole or primary means of heating a building or an electric water heating
system as the sole or primary means of providing hot water to a building.

���� The bill would require the DCA,
in cooperation with the DEP and the BPU, to hold at least six public hearings
throughout the State, within 18 months after the bill's enactment, to solicit
information on topics related to the costs and benefits of electric heating
systems and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from residential and
commercial buildings in the State.� The bill would then require the DCA, in
consultation with the DEP and the BPU, to publish, within 24 months after the
bill's enactment, a report that summarizes the information submitted at the
public hearings held pursuant to the bill, and recommends legislative and
regulatory actions.� After the report is published, the bill's prohibition on
regulatory actions to mandate the installation of electric heating systems or
electric water heating systems would expire.