Friday, March 21, 2008

NE-Mid-Atlantic States Announce First-Ever U.S. CO2 Auction

Mar 17: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the agreement among the Governors of ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, have announced upcoming auctions for the allowances that each state will be offering for sale.

The participating states have agreed to participate in uniform regional auctions with the initial auction planned for September 10, 2008, and a second auction scheduled for December 17, 2008. In conducting regional auctions, the participating states have come to agreement on the following design elements: Auction Structure and Format; Allowance Sale Schedule; Participation; Reserve Price; Unsold Allowances; Notice of Auctions; Monitoring; and Auction Results.


Pete Grannis, the Chair of RGGI, Inc. and Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said, “Climate change is the most significant environmental problem of our generation. Absent federal leadership, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states of RGGI are taking action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce their impact on the environment. Our CO2 auction will be the first in the nation and it is one that should be replicated at the federal level.”

To support the implementation of the RGGI program by the participating states, RGGI, Inc., through a competitive selection process, has selected several companies that will each deliver critically important services. World Energy Solutions, Inc. was selected to provide services related to the design and implementation of a regional allowance auction. Perrin Quarles Associates, Inc. (PQA) was selected to provide services related to the development and implementation of an emissions and allowance tracking system. ICF International was selected to provide services to support the implementation of the emissions offset component of the RGGI program, including the development of model application and submittal documents and model guidance documents. Greenhouse Gas Management Institute was selected to provide services related to the development of an accreditation process for independent verifiers of offset projects. The selections are tentative pending the outcome of a contract negotiation process and final agreement of contract terms and conditions.

Access a release from RGGI (
click here). Access the RGGI Summary of Design Elements (click here). Access the RGGI website for complete information (click here). Access a summary of "What's Being Done...In the States" from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change (click here). [*Climate]