World news

RGGI to sell 141 million emission allowances this year

The states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) will sell around 141 million emission allowances in four auctions this year, said the RGGI administrator on Tuesday.

The auctions will take place on March 14, June 6, September 5, and December 5, according to a schedule published on the RGGI website.

The first auction will be for around 34.8 million allowances while the remaning three auctions for around 32.3 million allowances each. 

The states participating in 2012 auctions will offer 2012 allocation year allowances only. They will not offer any future control period allowances (2015-2017), said the administrator.

The reserve price for this year's auctions is $1.93 compared with $1.89 last year.

RGGI is a cooperative effort among nine states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont – to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The first control period for fossil fuel-fired electric generators took effect on January 1, 2009 and concluded on December 31, 2011. The second control period took effect on January 1, 2012 and extends through December 31, 2014.

Source: RGGI