NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Dec. 4, 2009
Vol. 39, No. 466
Contact: Phil Cherry, Office of the Secretary, 302-739-9068; or Melinda Carl, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
Sixth RGGI auction expects to yield $1.6 million for Delaware’s
investments in renewable energy and efficiency programs
DOVER – Governor Jack Markell and DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara announced today that Delaware expects to receive $1.6 million for investment in clean energy projects from the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s (RGGI) sixth regional auction of carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances staged Wednesday, Dec. 2.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. The 10 RGGI partnering states hold quarterly allowance auctions and invest the proceeds in energy efficiency, renewable energy and other programs that benefit energy consumers and create green jobs.
“This funding will benefit Delaware’s economy and environment by providing job opportunities for weatherization and other programs to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses, which reduces energy use and lowers heating and other energy costs to consumers” said Governor Markell.
All of Delaware’s 763,841 allowances for the 2009 vintage offered in Wednesday’s auction sold at a price of $2.05. In a parallel offering, Delaware also auctioned allowances for the second three-year control period beginning January 1, 2012. A total of 49,090 of 66,698 allowances for the 2012 vintage sold at a price of $1.86. Unsold allowances for the 2012 vintage year may be sold in future auctions according to Delaware’s CO2 Budget Trading regulation. The 2012 vintage offering provides power plants and other entities that must comply with Delaware regulations the first look at future market prices for RGGI (CO2) allowances.
“Making buildings energy-smart is an investment in the environment and an investment in the health of working families,” said Secretary O’Mara. “For families, a weatherized home can mean more efficient heating, better lighting, and an overall healthier home environment.”
Under legislation passed last year by the Delaware General Assembly, approximately $1.16 million or 65 percent of the auction proceeds will be directed to the new Sustainable Energy Utility, the non-profit entity tasked to provide energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for households and businesses. The SEU’s new program, Energize Delaware, has begun to offer rebates on certain Energy Star appliances for residents and has launched a standard lighting program for businesses and other non-residential energy consumers using RGGI proceeds from previous auctions.
A total 15 percent of auction proceeds will be directed to low income consumers through programs administered by the Department of Health and Social Services. Up to 10 percent will be used for greenhouse gas reduction projects and the remaining 10 percent may be used to administer RGGI and climate change programs in DNREC.
Delaware is one of ten Northeast states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) pioneering RGGI – the first market-based, mandatory cap-and-trade program in the U.S. to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The participating states adopted regulations to cap and then reduce the amount of CO2 that power plants in each state are allowed to emit, limiting the region’s total contribution of atmospheric greenhouse gas levels. Under RGGI, the 10 states will stabilize power sector carbon emissions at their capped level, and then reduce the cap by 10 percent at a rate of 2.5 percent each year between 2015 and 2018.
A CO2 allowance represents a limited authorization to emit one ton of CO2 emissions to demonstrate compliance at the end of each 3-year control period. The first control period for fossil fuel-fired electric generators under each state’s CO2 Budget Trading Program took effect on January 1, 2009 and extends through Dec. 31, 2011.
The seventh auction will be held March 3, 2010.
For more information on Delaware’s RGGI program, visit http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/whs/awm/AQM/Pages/RegionalGreenhouseGasInitiative.aspx or for RGGI Inc., visit http://www.rggi.org.
