RGGI market rebounds from program review bearishness

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) allowances have mostly recovered since plunging immediately after the member states finished their third program review as summer power demand looms larger in the market.

As a result, various stakeholders view the latest changes to RGGI as a compromise, while those concerns likely contributed to the length of the review process.

“If this is the way to get consensus then I can’t really complain too much,” said Paola Tamayo, a senior policy and data analyst at the Acadia Center, a non-profit clean energy research group.

In addition, member states may have accounted for increased uncertainty with regards to the resource mix for the region, said Jamie Dickerson, senior director of climate and clean energy programs at the Acadia Center, citing, for example, recent roadblocks to offshore wind development.

As a result, the size of the combined CCRs relative to the emissions cap is “partly a reflection of that sort of medium-term uncertainty around what resources will be available” and which resources will be left to buy allowances, Dickerson said.

In addition, interim climate goals — which, for many states, are approaching in 2030 — could be a large driver of conversations. Member states likely will take a fresh look at the “evolution of the power mix, where technology costs are, [and] where the policy landscape” is at the federal level, Dickerson said.

To read the full article from Argus Media, click here.