Maryland’s Montgomery County won its court bid Wednesday to keep its ordinance banning the use of gas appliances in new buildings, with limited exceptions.
“Because the Bill does not regulate ‘energy use’ at the ‘point of use,’ its ‘all electric’ mandate for new construction is not preempted” by federal law, said Judge
Plaintiffs led by the National Association of Home Builders challenged Montgomery County’s Bill 13-22 in 2024. The bill, which mandates new construction or major renovations be all-electric in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, goes into effect by Dec. 31, 2026.
The complaint alleged preemption under the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which authorizes the Energy Department to establish energy conservation standards for consumer products. The groups in their suit also expressed concerns over consumer choice, electricity demand, and energy prices.
They relied on a decision in a similar case where the California Restaurant Association successfully overturned Berkeley’s natural gas ban in new buildings through lengthy litigation. In that case, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held the EPCA preempted a county ordinance that prohibited installation of gas lines in new construction.
However, Xinis agreed with the dissent from that case when granting summary judgment to Montgomery County.
The county’s bill doesn’t touch any of the “efficiency standards, consumer labeling, or testing procedures relevant to covered appliances” under the EPCA, the judge said.
“The Bill instead prohibits a category of appliances regardless of whether they meet the efficiency or labeling standards,” she said.
Xinis pointed to other courts that have adopted similar reasoning when presented with challenges to natural gas bans across the country, including in the southern and northern district courts of New York. Both decisions were appealed.
The Trump administration Monday separately dropped its suit against two California cities over their bans on natural gas hook-ups.
The groups in the Maryland case are variously represented by Baker Botts LLP, Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch PC, and the Restaurant Law Center. The county is represented by in-house counsel.
The case is Nat’l Ass’n of Home Builders of the U.S. v. Montgomery Cnty., Md., D. Md., No. 8:24-cv-03024, 3/25/26.
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