Electrification
Is there preemption?
No; however, Senate Bill 275 passed through the house and senate in 2022 before being vetoed by the governor. The bill would have prevented municipalities from prohibiting fossil fuel infrastructure in new construction projects. The bill had bipartisan support, with two democratic cosponsors – Judy Schwank and James Brewster.
Recent developments
In February 2023, state representative Martin Causer introduced a similar bill to Senate Bill 275 that would prohibit municipalities from banning appliances reliant on fossil fuels. The bill has not moved further since February when Causer solicited co-sponsorship for the bill.
What can municipalities do?
Though a true ban is not in place, municipalities can still work to disincentivize construction of fossil fuel infrastructure in new projects in other ways to ensure that fossil fuel use can be minimized if a preemption bill does eventually pass. Test
Currently, Philadelphia Gas Works offers customers a credit of up to $500 to switch from electric to natural gas power in their homes. Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania municipalities could ban such subsidies or, on the other hand, offer similar incentives to switch to or remain with clean power.
Municipalities could offer retailers rebates for selling appliances powered by clean energy, which could then be passed down to the consumer. Rebates at the retail level could create a larger snowball effect wherein products that have small market shares, such as heat pumps and induction stoves, could be introduced to customers en masse, while more expensive fossil fuel appliances would naturally be phased out as less economical options.
Municipalities can adopt voluntary “stretch codes.” Stretch codes are codes with more stringent requirements than building codes already in existence. While new binding codes can only be passed by municipalities in narrow circumstances (see Building and Construction Codes), municipalities are free to pass voluntary, non-binding codes. An effective voluntary stretch code could “require” all new fossil fuel-integrated construction to be built with the ability to easily and economically convert existing fossil fuel infrastructure into clean energy infrastructure. The code could act to educate new builders and disseminate information about the benefits of clean energy.
Municipalities can require that new construction meets certain energy efficiency standards. With an efficiency standard that is impossible to meet by using fossil fuels, builders will be forced to resort to clean energy.