A new pilot launching this fall will aim to replace gas stoves in New York City Housing Authority apartments with induction stoves.
The program will take the form of a contest that participating agencies are calling the “Induction Stove Challenge,” which aims to find which manufacturer can make energy efficient electric stoves that would replace the current fossil fuel-burning ones in NYCHA apartments — all while avoiding costly electrical upgrades in the buildings.
NYCHA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York Power Authority will run the competition.
As part of the initial pilot, the NYPA will request proposals from manufacturers and select one or more. Then, NYSERDA will purchase, install and test stoves for 100 NYCHA households. After the testing phase, NYCHA plans on buying 10,000 induction stoves through the contest, with the eventual goal of replacing all the gas stoves in its 177,000 apartments.
The program follows an earlier partnership between NYCHA and the nonprofit WE ACT for Environmental Justice, which replaced gas stoves with induction stoves at 10 households in a NYCHA development in the Bronx last year.
Andreas Tyre, the president of the Gowanus Houses’ tenant association, said he saw the benefits of switching to induction stoves after he experienced two gas outages last year that left him without a usable stove.
“Overall I think it’d be a good change especially in the path of upgrading and modernizing NYCHA,” Tyre said. “I definitely see the benefits of this, especially when it comes to health concerns, but I know the majority of residents will push back.”
Tyre said the Gowanus Houses have recently been undergoing renovations, and he’s already heard some senior residents express concerns about getting their gas stoves taken away in the process.
“People have been told [gas stoves] cook way better than electrical stoves,” Tyre said. “It also ties back to that, you know, broken trust between residents and NYCHA and that’s happened over the last few decades. So just keep showing the residents benefits, but at the same time, listen, if they don’t want it, they don’t want it.”
Mayor Eric Adams, who has previously questioned the efficacy of electric stoves in comparison to gas stoves, is a supporter of the program.
“As our administration uses every tool at our disposal to give NYCHA residents the safe, high-quality, affordable homes they deserve, adapting to tackle climate change is a critical piece of our work,” Adams said in a statement.
“From affordable housing to climate change, we are tackling the greatest challenges facing New Yorkers, and this groundbreaking agreement with NYCHA and our state partners puts that into action by providing modern, electric stoves for 100 households,” he continued. “Our city’s most pressing crises are interconnected, and so are the solutions we’re delivering.”
Earlier this year, New York became the first state to ban fossil-fuel hookups in newly constructed homes and buildings starting in 2025. New York City’s own ban takes effect next year.
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