I would like to make choux pastry, and the recipe I have emphasises bringing the pan quickly to a boil after the butter has melted into the water at the beginning of the procedure.  I only have electric hobs available, which can take a few minutes to go from a simmer to a proper boil.  Will this have a negative impact on my pastry, and if so is there a way I can work around it? 
Unless there is something seriously wrong with your stove, you should not have any negative effects from using it to make choux pastry. Simply melt the butter into the water over medium then adjust the temperature to high.  The purpose of boiling the water and then cooking the pastry over low heat is to gelatinize the starches in the flour. Your recipe likely adds emphasis to the point of bringing the water to a boil quickly so that you do not simmer the water away. Doing so can have negative effects on the finished product because it will throw off the water:flour ratio and you will not be able to completely gelatinize the starches.    If your stove heats up so slowly that you think this might be an issue, you can simply place a lid over the pot as you bring it to a boil, making sure to add back to the pot any condensed vapor on the inside of the lid. 