Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Project Description

With support from the Energy Foundation and other Funders, the Pace Energy and Climate Center has been working on RGGI development, implementation, operations, and policy for several years, going back to RGGI’s inception. We collaborate with a broad range of clean energy and climate advocates, contributing our strong analytical, market, and legal capabilities to the work of the group. We have championed innovative ideas like the channeling of auction proceeds back to low- and moderate-income household clean energy projects, and have developed the analytical foundations for aggressive reductions in carbon emissions in the region. We actively engage in reviews of the RGGI program, including the 2016 RGGI program review currently under way. See https://www.rggi.org/design/2016-program-review. Our engagement has included attending bi-weekly RGGI advocates meetings, attending RGGI stakeholder meetings, conducting research and analyses of the impacts of different policy options proposed by the RGGI states, and filing comments in response to those options. In order to frame policy options and arm advocates with solid data-based analytics of policy mechanisms for legislators and executive branch officials in RGGI states, Nick Martin put together a short but hard-hitting analysis of those options. We are in the process of updating his analysis to reflect the more recent scenarios proposed by the RGGI states and the impact of implementing an emissions containment reserve. We are also actively engaged in research on the potential of RGGI-related emissions leakage. Leakage has been a concern from the inception of RGGI, and some policymakers and stakeholders have pointed to the potential for leakage as a basis for not designing RGGI to more aggressively reduce carbon emissions. Through our research, we will determine whether emissions leakage is occurring and provide guidance on how to minimize or eliminate any harmful leakage that is occurring or that may occur in the future. Finally, we commissioned reports, soon to be released, analyzing the current state of Voluntary and Corporate Renewable Energy Markets in the Northeast, and are co-sponsoring a conference to be held in October 2017 at which the findings of these reports will be discussed.

Project Details

Client RGGI, Inc.
Date Current Project
Resources cleanenergyeconomy.us, rggi.org

What is RGGI, Inc.?

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc. (RGGI, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation created to support development and implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). 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.

 

RGGI Benefits

The RGGI states issue CO2 allowances which are distributed almost entirely through regional auctions, resulting in proceeds for reinvestment in strategic energy and consumer programs. Programs funded with RGGI investments have spanned a wide range of consumers, providing benefits and improvements to private homes, local businesses, multi-family housing, industrial facilities, community buildings, retail customers, and more.

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