First cap-and-trade auction today
Today, Maine will participate in the nation's first mandatory carbon auction under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
RGGI (pronounced "Reggie") is a 10-state effort to reduce regional carbon dioxide emissions by capping the amount of CO2 fossil fuel-fired power plants can emit. RGGI, which the Maine Legislature voted to join in 2007, is expected to cap and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants by 10% by 2018. To stay within the cap, each plant can either reduce its emissions, or purchase or trade carbon allowances, which will be sold at quarterly auctions.
In Maine, six power plants fall under the RGGI program: Florida Power and Light's Wyman Station in Yarmouth; Calpine Corp.'s Westbrook Energy Center in Westbrook; Rumford Power in Rumford; Verso Paper's mills in Jay and Bucksport; and the Casco Bay Energy plant in Veazie.
In August, the Maine Public Utilities Commission estimated Maine's share of the auction proceeds, which will be administered by the state's Energy and Carbon Savings Trust, could be as high as $26 million the first year.
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