The Chicago Commercial Electrical Retrofit Revolution: How 2025 Building Performance Standards are Driving Massive Infrastructure Upgrades

Chicago’s 2025 Building Performance Standards Are Triggering the Largest Commercial Electrical Infrastructure Overhaul in the City’s History

Chicago’s commercial building owners are facing an unprecedented wave of electrical infrastructure upgrades as the city’s ambitious 2025 building performance standards take full effect. The Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance applies to commercial, institutional, and residential buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, requiring them to track whole-building energy use, report to the City annually, and verify data accuracy every three years. This regulatory shift is creating massive opportunities—and urgent requirements—for commercial electrical retrofits across the Windy City.

The Driving Force: Chicago’s Energy Transformation Code

The energy code updates align with decarbonization goals in Chicago’s climate action plan, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 62% from 2017 levels by 2040. Buildings produce 69% of the city’s emissions. The new standards aren’t just about compliance—they’re about fundamentally transforming how Chicago’s commercial buildings consume and manage electrical power.

Appliances for indoor cooking (like stoves), clothes drying and hot water heating do not need to be electric—but they must have electrical capacity with the appropriate wiring and outlets for electronification updates in the future. This “electric-ready” requirement is forcing building owners to invest in substantial electrical infrastructure upgrades, even if they’re not immediately switching to all-electric systems.

New Electrical Requirements Reshaping Commercial Buildings

The 2025 standards introduce several game-changing electrical requirements that are driving retrofit demand:

  • New requirements for outlets to be tied to occupancy sensors or timer controls to remove vampire loads from items that are plugged in to outlets
  • Requirements related to energy-efficient lighting; designing certain commercial building roofs to support future solar panel installations; constructing residential buildings with infrastructure that enables a future switch to electric-powered appliances
  • The Chicago Electrical Code (Title 14E of the Municipal Code) incorporates provisions of the 2017 National Electrical Code, which is published by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

The Compliance Reality: Penalties and Enforcement

Starting in 2025, the City of Chicago is set to introduce stricter penalties for buildings that fail to comply with the benchmarking requirements. Non-compliance can lead to fines but more importantly, repeated non-compliance could lead to stricter scrutiny and potential limitations on building operations. The specifics of these penalties have been outlined to ensure that they serve as a significant deterrent against non-compliance.

Buildings that fail to submit benchmarking reports face fines of up to $100 per violation, with additional daily penalties of $25 per day until compliance is achieved. For commercial building owners, this creates a powerful financial incentive to invest in electrical retrofits that improve energy performance and ensure compliance.

The Business Case for Electrical Retrofits

Beyond compliance, the electrical retrofit revolution offers substantial business benefits. Invest in high-efficiency HVAC, LED lighting, and smart building controls to lower energy consumption. Retrofitting aging equipment can yield immediate performance gains. Modern electrical systems also support utility demand response programs that reduce peak electricity demand and lower costs. Smart energy management can help optimize building operations.

The city’s benchmarking requirements are also driving transparency in the real estate market. The Chicago Benchmarking Energy Ordinance created the Chicago Energy Rating System. The system assigns all buildings over 50,000 square feet an energy performance rating, which will be required to be posted in a prominent location and shared at the time of listing the property for sale or lease. It went into effect in 2019.

Finding the Right Electrical Partner

With the scale and complexity of these retrofit requirements, choosing experienced Commercial Electrical Services Chicago providers has become critical for building owners. The projects often involve sophisticated electrical infrastructure upgrades, from panel replacements and circuit additions to smart building controls and energy management systems.

Chicago enforces the Illinois Energy Conservation Code, which aligns with: These rules are designed to reduce energy waste and support Chicago’s 2025 climate goals. Professional electrical contractors must navigate not only the technical complexity but also the evolving regulatory landscape.

Looking Ahead: The Long-Term Impact

The 2022 Climate Action Plan includes electrification goals for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Resilient Chicago, the city’s resilience strategy, includes a goal to transition to 100% renewable energy in buildings across the city by 2035. This means the current wave of electrical retrofits is just the beginning of a longer transformation.

For commercial building owners, the message is clear: the 2025 building performance standards represent both a regulatory requirement and a strategic opportunity. Those who invest in comprehensive electrical retrofits now will be better positioned for future regulations while immediately benefiting from improved energy efficiency, reduced operating costs, and enhanced property values.

The Chicago commercial electrical retrofit revolution is more than a compliance exercise—it’s a fundamental shift toward a more sustainable, efficient, and resilient urban infrastructure. Building owners who act decisively to upgrade their electrical systems will find themselves at the forefront of Chicago’s energy transformation, well-prepared for the city’s ambitious 2035 renewable energy goals.