2023 -- H 5600

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LC000719

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ALL-ELECTRIC BUILDING ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Potter, Handy, McGaw, Carson, Kislak,
Donovan, Speakman, and Cotter

     Date Introduced: February 15, 2023

     Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 37 of the General Laws entitled "PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS"

is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 27

ALL-ELECTRIC BUILDING ACT

     37-27-1. Short title.

     This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "All-Electric Building Act".

     37-27-2. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter:

     (1) "All-electric building or project" means a building or project that uses a permanent

supply of electricity as the sole source of energy to meet building energy needs. An all-electric

building or project shall have no natural gas, propane, or oil heaters, boilers, piping systems,

fixtures or infrastructure installed to meet building energy needs.

     (2) "All-electric ready" means a building, project, or portion thereof that contains electrical

systems and designs that provide sufficient capacity for a future retrofit of a mixed-fuel building to

an all-electric building, including sufficient space, drainage, electrical conductors or raceways, bus

bar capacity, and overcurrent protective devices for such retrofit. The public utilities commission

in conjunction with the office of housing and community development and state building code

commission shall promulgate guidelines for an electric-ready building on or before January 1, 2024.

     (3) "Building energy needs" means all space conditioning including heating and cooling,

water heating including pools and spas, cooking appliances and clothes drying appliances.

     (4) "Mixed-fuel building" means a building that uses a combination of electricity and

natural gas, propane, or oil to meet building energy needs. For the purposes of this section, "mixed-

fuel building" shall not include buildings that use geothermal or solar energy to meet heating and/or

cooling building energy needs; provided, however, that are otherwise all-electric buildings.

     (5) "Mixed-use building" means a building used for both residential and commercial

purposes.

     37-27-3. Permits for all-electric buildings.

     (a) No city or town shall issue a permit for the construction of any new commercial,

residential, or mixed-use building that is not an all-electric building if the initial application for

such permit was submitted after December 31, 2024, unless the circumstances set forth in

subsection (b) or (e) of this section apply. For purposes of this subsection, the initial application

shall be the first site or building permit application associated with the building or project.

     (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a city or town may

issue a permit for construction of a new mixed-fuel building upon a finding by the permitting body

of such city or town that constructing an all-electric building or project is physically or technically

infeasible and that a modification is warranted. Financial considerations shall not be a sufficient

basis to determine physical or technical infeasibility. Modifications shall only be issued under this

exception where the permitting body finds that:

     (1) Sufficient evidence was submitted to substantiate the infeasibility of an all-electric

building or project design. Such evidence shall show that the building either:

     (i) Cannot satisfy necessary building code requirements without the usage of gas or oil

piping systems, fixtures and/or infrastructure; or

     (ii) If the building is specifically designated for occupancy by a commercial food service

establishment, that such establishment cannot feasibly operate using commercially available all-

electric appliances;

     (2) The installation of natural gas or oil piping systems, fixtures and/or infrastructure is

strictly limited to the system and area of the building for which an all-electric building or project

design is infeasible;

     (3) The area or service within the project where gas or oil piping systems, fixtures and/or

infrastructure are installed is all-electric ready; and

     (4) The project's modified design provides equivalent health, safety and fire protection to

an all-electric building or project design.

     (c) No local permitting body shall issue building or construction permits that would convert

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an all-electric building or project into a mixed-fuel building where the initial application was

submitted after December 31, 2024.

     (d) On or before February 1, 2025, the public utilities commission, the office of housing

community development and the state building code commission shall report jointly to the

governor, the senate president, and the speaker of the house, regarding what changes to electric rate

designs, new or existing subsidy programs, policies, or laws are necessary to ensure this section

does not diminish the production of affordable housing or the affordability of electricity for

customers in all-electric buildings. For the purpose of this subsection, "affordability of electricity"

means that electricity does not cost more than six percent (6%) of a residential customer's income.

     (e) Exemptions. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a city or

town shall issue a permit for new construction, substantial remodel, or rehabilitation of a building

or group of buildings, in which the use of mixed-fuel is used to meet building energy needs and

said building or group of buildings are for the sole use as a hospital, medical facility, laboratory for

biological research or restaurant.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ALL-ELECTRIC BUILDING ACT

***

     This act would provide that no city or town would issue a permit for the construction of

new buildings that are not an all-electric building, if the initial application for a permit was

submitted after December 31, 2024, unless certain circumstances apply. Exceptions would be

granted to restaurants, hospitals, medical facilities or biolabs.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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