Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, NYCHA Welcome Proposals In Induction Stove Challenge For Public Housing Apartments

November 3, 2023

New Step in Effort to Update Approximately 100 NYCHA Apartments With Modern, Electric Stoves by Piloting Use of Existing 120-Volt Outlets

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt today took a critical step forward in helping to deliver sustainable upgrades to more than 100 NYCHA apartments through the Induction Stove Challenge. A new request for proposals posted today seeks 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 new request for proposals follows the program’s announcement in July 2023 and the signing of an agreement between NYCHA, the New York Power Authority (NYPA), and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The Induction Stove Challenge more broadly builds on the Adams administration’s extensive work to provide safe, high-quality, affordable homes to every New Yorker, including by implementing the Public Housing Preservation Trust. The Induction Stove Challenge also complements an earlier partnership between NYCHA and the nonprofit WE ACT for Environmental Justice, which replaced gas stoves with induction stoves in 10 NYCHA households at 1471 Watson Avenue in the Bronx.

“After decades of federal disinvestment in public housing — a bedrock for so many working New Yorkers — it’s long past time to get creative about how we build NYCHA for the future. But our administration is and has been ready to go,” said Mayor Adams. “The Induction Stove Challenge will deliver energy efficient and cost-effective stoves to NYCHA residents in more than 100 apartments, and we will use the results of this important effort to identify any next steps worth taking.”

“Every New Yorker deserves to live in a safe, healthy home,” said Governor Hochul. “This innovative new partnership between the city and state will lead to the development of a new class of induction stovetops — ultimately providing NYCHA residents with state-of-the-art appliances in their homes. New York will continue to lead the nation with our commitments to climate justice and innovative clean energy solutions.”

“This collaborative effort to bring innovative solutions to NYCHA households combines several Adams administration goals: providing safe and affordable housing, fostering creativity across industries, and investing in a greener future,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “Amid the growing impacts of climate change, this challenge will provide quality-of-life improvements for NYCHA residents and advance green technology.”

“The Induction Stove Challenge is an exciting venture for NYCHA,” said NYCHA CEO Bova-Hiatt. “We are proud to be working alongside our state partners to not only prompt an industry to create this progressive, energy-efficient cooking system to meet the needs of our buildings’ aging infrastructure, but also to show the rest of New York, the country, and the globe, that this type of innovation is possible.”

Through this competitive request for proposals process, NYCHA, NYSERDA, and NYPA will collectively select at least one winner. Once awarded, the selected manufactures will have up to 10 months to develop a product and provide a working prototype unit and up to 18 months to provide up to 100 Underwriter Laboratories-tested demonstration units. The units will be installed in approximately 100 NYCHA apartments as a pilot beginning in 2025, with the intent of providing best-in-class, comfortable cooking, as well as health and quality of life benefits to NYCHA households. Additionally, the challenge’s resulting stove designs will provide an attractive and cost-effective stove replacement option for households and building owners beyond NYCHA, across New York State and nationally, where preexisting electrical systems common in most buildings may not support the induction stove products on the market.

Under the request for proposals, manufacturers can 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 one or more manufacturers’ stove designs are selected, NYSERDA will support the purchase, installation, and testing of approximately 100 stoves as a pilot, along with 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 properties, with the goal of fully replacing gas cooking stoves in NYCHA-owned buildings.

Responses to the RFP are due by January 9, 2024.

“The progress being made with the Induction Stove Challenge is very exciting,” said NYCHA Chief Asset and Capital Management Officer Shaan Mavani. “Bringing this new product to market would not only further NYCHA’s sustainability goals and improve resident quality of life, but can become a model for how sustainability and other building systems innovations are driven through public-private partnerships. If we can electrify stoves using 120-Volt outlets and limited electrical upgrades, electrification and decarbonization move one step closer for our buildings.”

“The Induction Stove Innovation Challenge will lead to the development of electric stoves that can operate in buildings where electrical systems would be otherwise unsupportive, eliminating a barrier that has stifled the implementation of energy efficient appliances to date,” said New York Power Authority president and CEO Justin E. Driscoll. “The innovative induction stoves developed through this challenge will improve quality of life for NYCHA residents, enable residents to benefit from state-of-the-art new technology, and set an example for the rest of the nation as we collectively implement programs that further decarbonize buildings.”

 “NYSERDA is proud to partner with NYCHA and NYPA to advance the development of induction cooking technology, an affordable solution to lower emissions in buildings and create healthier living environments for all New Yorkers,” said New York State Energy and Research Development Authority president and CEO Doreen M. Harris. “This challenge, which is part of the state’s commitment to target climate action investments that benefit disadvantaged communities, will help bring latest energy efficiency stoves to thousands of NYCHA residents as New York transitions to an inclusive clean-energy economy.”

“The Induction Stove Challenge is a great opportunity to encourage manufacturers to develop an accessible and affordable product that will deliver health and quality of life benefits to NYCHA residents,” said New York State Senator Kevin Parker. “This innovative program demonstrates the Governor’s commitment to addressing climate change and bringing investment and clean energy solutions to environmental justice communities.”