NYLCVEF and Con Edison: The present and future of Local Law 97

By Georgia Good

On February 25, we partnered with Con Edison for a breakfast and panel on one of America’s most consequential municipal climate policies: New York City’s 2019 Local Law 97 (LL97). As snow fell outside, we gathered at White & Case LLP’s offices in Manhattan, to discuss the landmark law – where we are now, and what’s to come. 

Buildings account for 70% of NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions – so their decarbonization is not only critical to New York’s climate strategy, but helps protect disadvantaged communities from fossil-fuel-driven air pollution. LL97 is designed to address this, setting ambitious emissions caps, and a clear signal that the future of our buildings must be efficient, electrified, and clean-energy-powered.

As we move toward LL97’s 2030 compliance period, the conversation is shifting from what the law requires, to how we make it work – from financing and technical support for building owners, to coordination among utilities, regulators, and the private sector, to advancing environmental justice across the city. 

To discuss this, NYLCVEF was joined by a panel of experts leading on LL97. Here’s what they shared. 

Beth Golub, Director, Sustainability Policy and Legal Affairs, NYC Department of Buildings (DOB)

Opening the panel, Beth Golub noted that Local 97 only covers New York’s largest buildings – about a third of the city’s total. As the map shows, multifamily housing accounts for the majority of buildings covered, followed by offices, then all other building types. 

Beth expressed excitement from the DOB: building owners are engaging and complying with LL97 at high rates. The DOB estimates that over 90% of buildings are in compliance with the 2024 emissions targets. It’s now auditing every building report from this first compliance year, and it’s going well: 93% of properties engaged, and affordable housing buildings engaged at the highest rate (96%). Having this accurate, verified data is a major milestone in itself. 

If a building isn’t compliant, what are its options? Beth summarized pathways to compliance, which include: implementing building upgrades to cut emissions and increase energy efficiency; making good-faith efforts toward compliance to mitigate penalties; and buying offsets from the NYC Affordable Housing Reinvestment Fund, which support the decarbonization of affordable housing in NYC. Beth also noted that the City is advancing a fair, supportive enforcement approach to implementation, prioritizing support for building owners over penalization. 

As the DOB audits reports, analyzes building data, and has conversations like this one, it’ll be better placed to inform what the next LL97 rule package looks like. 

Adam Schiabor, Associate Director, Research, Urban Green Council

Adam Schiabor spoke on behalf of Urban Green Council, an NYC-based nonprofit aiming to decarbonize buildings for healthy and resilient communities. 

He focused on multifamily buildings, which account for about 60% of LL97 buildings’ total square footage. About half of these are affordable housing (primarily rent-stabilized or publicly administered), which may comply with LL97 through measures other than building-level carbon caps. The other half do have caps, which will be stricter from 2030. Adam focused on this second half.

As the graph shows, over 50% of these buildings are already compliant; over 70% are either compliant or well on their way there. Those requiring a 20-40% emissions reduction, meanwhile, will require significant electrification and efficiency work. And those that require a 40%+ reduction – the smallest group – will need to work harder to reach compliance, according to the compliance pathways outlined by Beth. 

To support this, Urban Green Council has an interactive data tool, called “LL97 Action Steps,” to help co-op/condo board members and owners and property managers of qualifying buildings learn about cost-effective actions they can take to improve their buildings and comply with LL97. The tool delivers a customized set of retrofit solutions – focusing on practical, near-term actions, like rebalancing steam systems, leveraging planned upgrades, and evaluating heat pumps in a few apartments.

Finally, Adam outlined three key LL97 market needs for seamless implementation: lower costs (lower-cost financing with less upfront capital, and lower-cost service delivery); less headache (simpler, integrated processes); and lower risk and uncertainty (here, trusted sources and solutions are key). Still, his main takeaway was clear and optimistic: 100% compliance is a tough, but feasible, goal.

Scott Butler, Dept Manager, Strategic Planning, Con Edison

Representing Con Edison, Scott Butler offered a utility perspective on LL97 – how it’ll affect energy providers and consumers.

On the electric side, demand is growing in New York. With customers moving toward electric vehicles and appliances, Con Ed is exploring how to build out its electric system more proactively, looking 20-30 years ahead. By the mid-2030s, for example, they expect that many buildings will have switched to high-efficiency electric heat pumps as their main source of space heating. 

Meanwhile, Con Ed expects gas demand to decline. New York City and State have adopted near-100% bans on the use of natural gas in new construction. Still, this shift away from gas will take time; the gas system will still be operating in a decade, so Con Ed is investing in its safety and reliability, too – e.g. replacing materials prone to leaking. Con Ed is also a major steam provider in Manhattan: 10% of NYC building space is served by its steam system. Again, transitioning from a steam to electric system takes time, so Con Ed is also investing in tech to reduce the carbon footprint of its steam production. 

As Scott notes, affordability for customers is key. By 2030, most buildings covered by LL97 will risk fines if they don’t comply. A minority of buildings are struggling here – these tend to be those that have on-site generation, or are very energy-intensive, like hospitals. Another challenge is that some buildings don’t fall neatly into LL97’s categories – for Con Ed, for example, there’s no utility dispatch center category. The best solution if this applies to your building: talk to the City, and request an adjustment if needed. 

For the most part, Con Ed observes, buildings don’t need to be fully electrified today. Many property owners and managers are finding ways to incrementally improve building efficiency, instead – e.g. zoning their heating more effectively, or electrifying domestic hot water. Those that are most successful tend to be those that, in the case of multifamily buildings, offer some qualitative benefit to tenants. 

As building owners and managers work toward compliance, Scott says, Con Ed can help. From 2026, Con Ed has $400 million a year for rebate programs, focused on weatherization and electrification projects. 20% of that funding is for low- and moderate-income apartment buildings – for example, to help get them electrification-ready, or to upgrade electric panels. The NYC Accelerator is also a great resource for carbon reduction projects. 

Faiza Azam, Climate and Labor Organizer, ALIGN NY

As well as organizing for ALIGN, an alliance of labor, environmental justice, and community organizations working for a sustainable New York, Faiza Azam coordinates NYC’s Climate Works for All coalition, for whom compliance with LL97 is a key priority. Faiza offered a community perspective on the law. 

First, she emphasized that environmental justice communities are at the forefront of New York’s climate crisis. These are low income and communities of color, whose health is most at risk from environmental damage. Here, LL97 should be part of the solution.  

It’s already achieving this: Faiza shared that 90% of the electrification under LL97, so far, has been beneficial for communities of color – especially when priority is given to heavily air-polluted districts. LL97 sets a powerful precedent for how the City can support these groups. As well as helping NYC meet its climate goals, she frames LL97 as crucial for both public health and housing and energy affordability. It’s an opportunity for the City to increase climate resilience, cut long-term costs (for example from extreme weather damage), and lower our energy bills. She notes, however, that the City Council is exploring measures to exempt compliance, which would undermine climate resilience without supporting affordability.  

Faiza’s key point: we must ensure that affordability and compliance remain priorities, as LL97 moves toward its second stage. And environmental justice communities must be centered in this process, as those paying the highest price. 

Thank you to our partners 

This event was part of our ongoing partnership with Con Edison, to foster open dialogue and collaboration among business leaders, policymakers, advocates, and practitioners working to build a cleaner, more resilient New York.

Thank you also to our panellists, attendees, and hosts at White & Case LLP, for an inspiring and informative conversation. We look forward to helping shape the future of LL97, as part of a green, resilient and affordable New York. 

Georgia Good is Communications Fellow at the New York League of Conservation Voters. She’s a Steinhardt Graduate Scholar in Environmental Conservation Education at NYU, with a focus on climate communications and journalism. She’s had comms roles at Climate Arc, the Centre for Climate Engagement, University of Cambridge, and Mercy Corps. 

Photo credits: White & Case LLP