Press Republican: Hochul Repeals ‘100-foot rule’

December 22nd, 2025

December 23, 2025

Read on the Press Republican website here.

ALBANY — On Monday, lawmakers and advocates across the state held a virtual press conference to celebrate Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to sign legislation repealing the 100-foot rule.

The 100-foot rule is a policy that allows gas corporations to charge customers each year to expand fracked gas pipelines. According to a recent analysis from the Public Utility Law Project, repealing the 100-foot rule will save New Yorkers from paying up to $600 million every year on energy bills.

“This is an incredible victory for hard-working New Yorkers, our wallets and our climate,” Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (D-NY52) said in a press release. “Utility companies have had a blank check to expand polluting gas infrastructure and pass those costs along to consumers through higher monthly bills. Repealing the outdated 100-foot rule ends this outrageous subsidy to the gas industry, saves consumers money and promotes the transition to greener, more affordable energy.”

Utilities use policies such as the 100-foot rule to fund the expansion of fossil fuels, driving up energy costs. With her signature, the governor starts the process of removing these charges from customers’ bills.

Across the country, states are moving to end similar giveaways for gas utilities. California and Colorado have already eliminated their states’ versions of the 100-foot rule, while Massachusetts and Maryland are advancing the process. Washington, Oregon and Minnesota have begun or are considering similar phase outs as well.

In New York, a state in which 1 in 4 residents are facing high energy burdens and paying over 6% of their annual income on energy bills, the energy affordability crisis is reaching new heights as the cost of gas utility bills outpaces the rate of inflation nearly fourfold and is driving up both gas rates and electric rates alike.

“New York finally took this important step to end one of the most wasteful pro-gas subsidies on the books,” Kim Fraczek, director of Sane Energy Project, said in a press release. “Communities across the state have fought for years to end the 100-foot rule, and this repeal shows what’s possible when people stand up to utility greed.”

In recent weeks, advocates stepped up efforts to pass the bill with a series of press conferences urging the governor to repeal the 100-foot rule before the end of this year. New Yorkers held rallies in Manhattan, Westchester, Kingston, Rochester, Brooklyn, Queens and Albany to highlight how repealing the 100-foot rule would help New Yorkers in need while protecting our climate.

The fight to eliminate the 100-foot rule started as part of a statewide movement to pass the popular NY HEAT Act, legislation that would have gone even further to protect New Yorkers from utilities’ spending on gas pipelines. The NY HEAT Act would have reformed the legal requirement that utilities provide gas service even when electric heating and cooling is a more affordable option. The legislature passed only a piece of the NY HEAT Act — the bill to repeal the 100-foot rule for gas (S.8417/A.8888).

But not everyone agrees with the repeal. Executive Director of Upstate United Justin Wilcox said this will end up costing New York residents and businesses who use natural gas more.

“The governor’s approval message states that repealing the 100-foot rule will lower costs. The reality is that, when this law is enacted next year, New York residents and developers who choose to use natural gas will have to pay more,” he said.

“Claiming that New Yorkers will no longer have to socialize those costs is disingenuous, especially since we continue to socialize the cost of electrification. From the North Country to Buffalo, affordable housing is a major concern, and this law will worsen the issue while deterring access to a reliable heating source.”