Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation Friday ending a 44-year-old subsidy that forced existing gas customers to pay for new residential gas hookups.
The repeal eliminates the “100-foot rule,” a 1981 law requiring utilities to extend gas lines to new customers within 100 feet of existing mains at no direct cost. Utilities recovered those connection expenses—averaging $5,880 each—by adding them to every customer’s monthly bill. The Public Utility Law Project estimates the change will save New York ratepayers $581 million annually.
“It’s simply unfair, especially when so many people are struggling right now, to expect existing utility ratepayers to foot the bill for a gas hookup at a brand new house that is not their own,” Hochul said Friday in a statement.
The legislation takes effect in December 2026.
For local advocates who spent years pushing for the change, the signing brought relief.
“We are paying too much for our utilities, for both gas and electric, and this will take one step toward beginning to lower their utility bills,” said Natalie Polvere, Co-Chair of the Environmental Committee for NYcD 15/16 Indivisible.
She added, “Every measure of this kind that’s taken will help to reduce those bills in the long run.”
Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon carried the bill (S.8417/A.8888). It emerged from the broader NY HEAT Act, which stalled amid opposition from the gas industry. Advocates view the repeal as progress but say the fight isn’t over.
“This was just one little piece of it that got signed,” Polvere said. “It’s a tiny step in the right direction.”
New York joins California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon in eliminating similar gas line subsidies.
For more information, visit Renewable Heat Now.
