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Cooking on induction stove
Featured Sustainability Top Story 

Induction Stove Challenge Agreement Signed

Michael

Agreement sets forth pilot that will update 100 NYCHA apartments with modern, electric stoves using existing 120-volt outlets

On July 24, NYCHA — with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) — announced the signing of an agreement for the Induction Stove Challenge. The program, expected to launch this fall, will be supported by NYSERDA and NYCHA as a competitive innovation challenge that calls on appliance manufacturers to design and produce energy-efficient, electric cooking systems to replace existing fossil fuel stoves while avoiding costly electrical upgrades in NYCHA buildings. The units will provide best-in-class, comfortable cooking as well as health and quality of life benefits to thousands of NYCHA households. The new stoves will also provide an attractive and cost-effective option for stove replacement for households and building owners across New York State and nationally, where pre-existing electrical systems common in most buildings may not support the induction stove products that are currently available.

Through this Challenge, NYCHA, NYSERDA, and NYPA will collectively establish performance criteria and product specifications for the induction stoves; NYPA is expected to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) later this year to select one or more manufacturers and will support the design and testing of the new stoves.

The RFP will invite manufacturers to submit proposals that include innovative solutions and provide product designs and prototypes for new induction stoves that can be installed in older buildings using standard 120-volt/20-amp outlets. Once proposals are selected for awards, NYSERDA will support the purchase, installation, and testing of 100 stoves as a pilot, as well as new cookware for each participating NYCHA household. Through the Challenge and successful testing, NYCHA plans to purchase at least 10,000 stoves to be installed at their properties, with the goal of fully displacing gas cooking stoves in NYCHA-owned buildings. This will demonstrate to building owners the affordable conversion to efficient induction cooking, and to manufacturers the potential of a broader residential market for the new induction stove products.

To ensure that the new induction stoves can serve a large, national market, NYSERDA has hired the Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) to engage other states and housing providers across North America. In this way, the Challenge will build a pipeline of potential demand from others pursuing cooking electrification, aligning NYCHA’s product specifications with the needs of the broader market. 

The Induction Stove Challenge complements an earlier partnership between NYCHA and the non-profit WE ACT for Environmental Justice, which replaced gas stoves with induction stoves in 10 NYCHA households at 1471 Watson Avenue in the Bronx. 

“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,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “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. Our city’s most pressing crises are interconnected, and so are the solutions we’re delivering.”

“I’ve said it before — safe and affordable housing is about creating opportunity and improving lives,” said Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. “The Induction Stove Challenge is an amazing opportunity for innovation, one that prompts industry manufacturers to develop a product that will deliver health and quality of life benefits to NYCHA residents while simultaneously bringing New York City that much closer to its carbon emission reduction goals.”

“The Induction Stove Challenge is a great example of innovation put into practice,” said NYCHA CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “If energy-efficient induction stoves can be redesigned to function in NYCHA buildings, it sets an amazing precedent for what can be done with existing infrastructure, some forward thinking, and the necessary funding.”

“This technology challenge will support innovation that has the potential to not only create a safer, healthier, and energy-efficient way to cook — it is also part of the State’s commitment to target climate action investments to disadvantaged communities,” said NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris. “NYSERDA is proud to partner with NYPA and NYCHA on advancing induction cooking technology as a cost-effective way to reduce onsite emissions in buildings and support the state’s transition to an inclusive clean-energy economy.”

“The Power Authority has been an active partner and energy advisor to NYCHA for decades to improve energy infrastructure throughout the city’s many public housing facilities,” said New York Power Authority Acting President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll. “We are now excited to support the Induction Stove Challenge, which seeks innovative solutions to the mass deployment of electric induction stoves in NYCHA apartments. The replacement of the existing fossil fuel appliances will provide health benefits to NYCHA residents and reduce carbon emissions, furthering Governor Hochul’s climate agenda.”

“HCR is committed to achieving sustainability across our housing portfolio as we strive to meet Governor Hochul’s target of two million climate friendly homes by 2030,” said New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas. “The Induction Stove Challenge led by our state and city partners will incentivize the innovation of more efficient cooking appliances, and will facilitate the testing of these new technologies in a real-world environment. It is our hope that creative programs like the Induction Stove Challenge will generate products that benefit us all and will support the Empire State’s nation-leading climate goals.” 

“In partnership with WE ACT, we studied and understand that electric induction stoves are healthier for indoor environments compared to gas cooking, and we can’t allow the costs of retrofits to constrain us in acting on this strategy,” said NYCHA Senior Vice President for Sustainability Vlada Kenniff. “This is our next attempt to create a solution that will allow us to abandon often failing gas lines, while providing a healthier, more reliable cooking option for our residents.”

“The Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice is pleased to support the Induction Stove Challenge, which will help to develop a more accessible, affordable, and healthier stove top technology for NYCHA residents,” said Acting Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) Victoria Cerullo. “This innovative pilot program complements our climate work being carried out across the five boroughs and demonstrates the City’s continued commitment to bringing investment and clean energy solutions to environmental justice communities.” 

“NYCHA’s Induction Stove Challenge, like NYCHA’s Clean Heat for All Challenge and others before it, are game changers,” said NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) Chief Sustainability Officer Jennifer Leone. “New York City will never be able to meet our goals for healthy, safe, low-carbon affordable housing without this kind of innovation. The cost barriers for upgrading New York City’s fossil-fuel based housing stock are enormous, and today’s technologies simply don’t allow us to decarbonize at scale. Kudos to NYCHA, NYSERDA, and NYPA.” 

“Our Out of Gas, In with Justice pilot study gave us and our fellow advocates a better understanding of the adverse impacts that gas stoves have on indoor air quality and taught us all a lot about how to best make the transition from gas to electric in affordable housing,” said Annie Carforo, Climate Justice Campaigns Manager for WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “We thank NYCHA for partnering with us on this study, and for the leadership role they are taking in decarbonizing and electrifying residential buildings.”

“This is a fantastic effort to bring the benefits of clean, efficient, and healthy cooking to New Yorkers, and particularly to those who live in disadvantaged communities,” said New York Policy Director for Rewiring America Michael Hernandez. “Rewiring America is proud to help amplify this call to innovation. The future is electric and New York is leading the way.”

The Induction Stove program is representative of NYCHA’s Sustainability Agenda. Launched in 2021, the Authority announced an ambitious recommitment to addressing climate change. Informed by 10 months of engagement with NYCHA residents, City agencies, community-based organizations, and technical experts, the Authority’s agenda focuses on taking a holistic approach to building renovations and community needs. The Induction Stove challenge is modeled after another successful sustainability project, the Clean Heat for All Challenge, in which NYCHA, NYSERDA, and NYPA invited manufacturers to develop and produce a new electrification product to better serve multifamily buildings’ heating and cooling needs and hasten the transition to fossil-free heating sources at NYCHA campuses. 

Photo caption: Angela Norales, a resident of 1471 Watson Avenue, cooks a meal on her electric induction stove.