This is a step-by-step guide to help state lawmakers and advocates craft equitable, affordable thermal energy network (TEN) legislation for their communities.
The Building Decarbonization Coalition partnered with the Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment to create this resource.
As of March 2025, eight states—Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Maryland, Vermont, and California—had passed legislation allowing or mandating regulated utilities to demonstrate the viability of thermal energy networks (TENs). Several of those states went further in the 2025 legislative session, proposing legislation that allows regulated gas and electric utilities to serve as thermal utilities.
This guidebook examines legislation from those initial eight states. It features excerpts and lessons to help others draft their first TENs-enabling laws or enhance existing ones.
Click through the contents below to jump to different sections of the guidebook. We hope you find this resource useful as you chart a legislative path toward equitable, system-scale decarbonization with TENs!
7. System Transition Planning
Require integrated energy planning (IEP) for neighborhood-scale building decarbonization
Require gas utilities to file non-gas pipeline alternatives
Disincentivize investing in new gas infrastructure
Address the energy burden created by system transition investments
Formalize the regulatory process
Require standardized, open-access system transition tracking metrics