Regional Greenhouse Gas Auction Begins Bid Process
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction process went live on July 24, beginning 60 days of bid preparation for this first-in-the-nation auction of carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances to be held on Sept. 25, 2008.
All materials needed to participate in the upcoming auction and an online question window may be accessed through http://www.rggi.org/trading_auctions.htm. All auction participants must open accounts in the RGGI CO2 Allowance Tracking System; simple guidance for this procedure is available at http://www.rggi.org/tracking.htm.
The Auction Notice opens the process that potential bidders must follow to qualify for and participate in the CO2 allowance auction. The 10 RGGI states urge prospective bidders to seize this first opportunity to bid for CO2 allowances by downloading final auction documents.
The 10 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states pioneering the auction have designed the first market-based, mandatory cap-and-trade program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a simple and constructive way. The states have committed to cap and then reduce the amount of CO2 that power plants in their region are allowed to emit, limiting the region's total contribution to atmospheric greenhouse gas levels. The auction will generate additional investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy in the RGGI region and fund programs to combat fuel poverty and support consumers.
The Sept. 25 auction will offer 12,565,387 CO2 allowances, including CO2 allowances issued by Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Any CO2 allowances purchased at this auction can be used by a regulated facility for compliance in any of the RGGI states, even if that state does not offer allowances in this auction.
Under the RGGI process, after the 10 participating states have stabilized power-sector carbon emissions at their capped level by 2014, the cap will be reduced each year from 2015 through 2018.