WASHINGTON — Four senior Democratic officials in Congress condemned the incident. decision The move, developed this week by a private group that sets the country's default homebuilding guidelines, eases requirements for new homes and offices to include wiring for electric heaters, EV chargers and solar panels.
In November, the industry association representing the natural gas industry 11th hour appeal begins The International Code Council is a nonprofit consortium of local governments and industry organizations responsible for creating model building codes used in nearly every state in the United States.
Gas organizations have called on the ICC to scrap new adjustments in the latest update to the code to help homeowners save money on their electricity bills. Required circuits for appliances or automobiles can add thousands of dollars to the asking price of a new home, while rewiring existing walls by the average homeowner requires a renovation. It will cost tens of thousands of dollars.
ICC Appeals Committee denied those requests Early this month.But on Wednesday, the ICC board of directors overturned that judgmentremoved pro-electrification provisions from the latest codebook, delivering a surprise victory for gas utilities and furnace manufacturers.
“This is a real scandal,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told HuffPost in an email. “At the urging of fossil fuel companies, ICC leadership overruled its own experts and blocked code changes that would help electrify buildings and reduce dependence on fossil gas. That’s a big setback.”
![Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) speaks during a press conference in support of Tibet outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 28, 2023.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65fdb874230000aa286574e5.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
![Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) speaks during a press conference in support of Tibet outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., March 28, 2023.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65fdb874230000aa286574e5.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who has close ties to progressive climate change groups, said gas companies are „profiting to homeowners by attacking energy-efficient appliances and appliances.“ „It's happening,“ he accused.
„The International Standards Council has a strong mission to advance our nation's model building codes,“ Markey said in an emailed statement. “But the board has handed over the keys to Big Gas, which has used an undemocratic and opaque process to electrify an already electrified system that was supposed to cut costs and make homes cleaner. It attacked and rescinded the measures in the finalized 2024 statute.”
Rep. Frank Pallone (D.N.J.) was one of the top three House Democrats last week. sent a warning letter to the ICC The board voted against granting Gas Group's appeal.
„This backroom deal is clearly a handout to corporate polluters and special interests on the Board of Directors, and raises serious questions about the integrity of both this process and the ICC as an organization.“ Pallone, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told HuffPost on Thursday. “We look forward to getting answers and holding this group accountable.”
![Representative Paul Tonko (D.Y.) speaks during a press conference calling for enactment of climate change legislation outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., June 16, 2022.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65fdb8ef250000001f945207.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
![Representative Paul Tonko (D.Y.) speaks during a press conference calling for enactment of climate change legislation outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., June 16, 2022.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65fdb8ef250000001f945207.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
Anna Moneymaker (via Getty Images)
Rep. Paul Tonko of New York, who signed Pallone's letter, also said in an interview on Capitol Hill Thursday that Congress needs to „continue to advocate“ and maintain engagement with the ICC.
“We are hopeful that we can come up with some arrangement that addresses the norms and accommodates greening,” he said.
federal law dates back about 20 years Requires the U.S. government to create its own national building code that can be used when making loans to homebuyers. However, no institution has actually done that, and until it does, the law allows it to use the ICC's provisions instead.
The law also directs federal agencies to evaluate the latest ICC energy standards every three years to determine whether to reduce wasted electricity, heat, etc. If the new rules are passed, the government will implement them as part of the federal mortgage standards.
Despite this mandate, the federal government has routinely violated the law by being slow to update lending requirements and loosening standards until they are no longer effective. The only update occurred in 2015, when the Obama administration made ICC's 2009-level energy standards the standard for new federal mortgages.
The Biden administration signaled last year that it intended to raise the standards to 2021 standards, which would be a major advance in energy efficiency rules for states still using older standards. But proposals to actually update mortgage requirements are likely to be politically polarizing in red states and remain stuck in the bureaucracy.
Advocacy groups recently formed a national network called the National Energy Codes Collaborative, which will begin meetings this May to help states update to more energy-efficient standards.
Although no lawmaker supported these specific efforts, Tonko said Congress should „advise“ the ICC to „provide input and share concerns.“
„We need to take climate change seriously,“ he says. “I hope we can come up with some arrangement that addresses the norms and accommodates greening. We need to do that.”
Arthur Delaney reported from Washington, DC. Alexander C. Kaufman reported from New York.
This article has been updated to better reflect NECC's goals.