Mark Your Calendar
The next Building Energy Codes and Standards Committee (BECS) Meeting will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, May 13-14, 2026, at the Westin Portland Harborview Hotel, Portland, Maine. Information regarding the hotel, meeting registration and preliminary agenda has been made available. Please let us know if you have not received the detailed meeting information.
DOE Issues Stay for Compliance Date for Provisions for Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings (CER).
On Monday, DOE issued a Federal Register Notice announcing that they are reviewing their recent guidance related to the implementation of newly adopted provisions regarding Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings (CER). While DOE reviews the CER implementation guidance, DOE is staying the compliance date from April 20, 2026, until September 1, 2026. As background on this requirement for federal buildings, legislation was passed in 2007 that required federal buildings that includes a section (Energy Independence and Security Act’s Section 433) that initiates a process of reducing the use of fossil fuels in federal buildings over a set period of time with eventually eliminating using fossil fuels in new and renovated buildings covered by the legislation. However, the controversial legislation was never fully implemented by DOE and was one of the first federal restrictions place on using natural gas in federal building. This “stay” permits the DOE to provide extra time to consider next steps to address concerns that the provisions can be counterproductive to reducing energy use in building covered by the regulations developed to implement the legislation. While AGA is pleased with the “stay”, problematic requirements still remain in the original legislation that is currently being proposed for repeal because of the negative impact it has on limiting fossil fuel use, higher total source energy consumption, and higher annual energy cost in many applications. The following article provides an updated on current activities targeting the repeal of that legislation that triggered the onerous DOE regulation that would eventually eliminate using fossil fuels in many federal buildings.
House Passes Legislation Repealing the Energy Independence and Security Act’s Section 433 that Phases Out and Eliminates Fossil fuels from New and Renovated Federal Facilities.
As reported by AGA’s Legislation staff on Wednesday, “the House passed H.R. 4690, the Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act, sponsored by Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY). This bill overturns the Energy Independence and Security Act’s Section 433 which phases out and eliminates fossil fuels from new and renovated federal facilities. Importantly, the bill passed on a bipartisan basis.” Attached is a copy of the bill as well as the Statement of Administration Policy issued by the White House, indicating the President would sign the bill into law if it were to come to his desk following passage in both the House and Senate.
“AGA has long opposed Section 433 which favors fuel mandates over energy efficiency. The phaseout requirement was long viewed as difficult, if not impossible to implement, and no administration had taken action to issue a rule on this measure until 2024 when the Biden Administration issued the Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings rule. The rule varies from the statute in law, which requires the elimination of “fossil fuel-generated energy consumption”. Instead, the rule limits on-site fossil fuel use at the expense of resiliency and energy efficiency.” It was noted that “The overall cost of 433 would be $2.6 billion through 2035 after combining net energy and equipment costs. Approximately 60% of these costs are from retrofitting older buildings to being all-electric, no longer using natural gas or other fuels.” The next step in the legislative process is to work with the Senate on a companion bill that can be voted on and leads to a final bill that would be presented for the president’s signature.
The AGA April 22, 2026, Press Release provides additional information on the passage of H.R. 4690.
AGA Releases a New Report that Shows Lower Emissions and Lower Costs are Possible with the Direct Use of Natural Gas in Homes and Businesses.
This week, AGA released a new report, Building for Efficiency: Home Appliance Cost and Emissions Comparison, showing that natural gas appliances deliver significant cost savings while achieving comparable—or lower—emissions than all-electric alternatives in new homes. The results reinforce how natural gas continues to deliver reliable, affordable energy while supporting lower-emissions solutions for homeowners. BECS Committee members are encouraged to use the information in the extensive study to present fact-based information on the benefits of the direct use of natural gas in homes and businesses for consumer information material and educating participants in energy codes and standards development activities impacting natural gas within your service territories.
Get More Info: Read the full report here and the one-pager here. AGA April 22, 2026, Press Release providing additional information is available here.