This page lists my posts on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is a cap and auction program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the electric sector.
Proponents tout RGGI as a successful program because participating states have “cut carbon pollution from their power plants by more than half, improved public health by cutting dangerous air pollutants like soot and smog, invested more than $3 billion into their energy economies, and created tens of thousands of new job-years”. Others have pointed out that RGGI was not the driving factor for the observed emission reductions. My latest evaluation of RGGI results found that the investments from RGGI auction proceeds were only directly responsible for 6% of the total observed annual reductions over the baseline to 2020 timeframe and that those investments reduced emissions at a rate of $818 per ton of CO2. The primary driver of observed reductions was cost-efficient fuel switching from coal and residual oil to natural gas not RGGI. I concluded that RGGI successfully raised money but has not provided cost-effective emission reductions or has had much to do with the observed CO2 emission reductions in the electric generating sector of the NE United States. This page contains links to all my RGGI articles.
RGGI started in 2009 and the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have participated ever since. New Jersey was included at the start of the program, dropped out and re-joined in 2020. Virginia joined in 2021 but now appears to be getting out. Pennsylvania is in their state process to join once all the litigation is settled. In this cap and invest program allowances are auctioned and the investments are supposed to be invested in programs to reduce emissions.
I have been involved in the RGGI program process since its inception. Before retirement from a non-regulated generating company, I was actively analyzing air quality regulations that could affect company operations and was responsible for the emissions data used for compliance. As a result, I have a niche understanding of the information necessary to critique RGGI. The opinions expressed in these posts do not reflect the position of any of my previous employers or any other company I have been associated with, these comments are mine alone.
The following are my posts on RGGI. Note that I update the status of emission leakage, investment proceeds and allowance holdings reports regularly.
RGGI Posts
- Has the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Been Successful? February 18, 2017
- How Much Has the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Reduced CO2 Emissions? February 25, 2017
- How Much Has the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Reduced Other Pollutant Emissions? March 5, 2017
- RGGI Containment Reserves, April 30, 2017
- RGGI as the Electric Sector Compliance Tool to Achieve 2030 State Climate Targets, May 7, 2017
- RGGI Costs Relative to NYS Electric Supply Rate Requests July 14, 2017
- Academic RGGI Economic Theory of Allowance Management July 21, 2017
- Investment of RGGI Proceeds 2015, October 10, 2017
- My Comments on the September 2017 RGGI Meeting, October 20,2017
- RGGI 2016 Program Review Completion, December 24, 2017
- NYS RGGI Operating Plan Expectations vs. Reality, December 29, 2017
- NY RGGI Stakeholder Meeting February 2018, January 27, 2018
- RGGI Allowance Status March 2018, April 26, 2018
- Environmental Advocates of New York RGGI at a Crossroads Report, June 3, 2018
- Investment of RGGI Proceeds in 2016 October 23, 2018
- RGGI Emission and Allowance 2018 Status February 6, 2019
- RGGI in the Weeds, February 10, 2019
- New Jersey Re-Joins RGGI June 18, 2019
- NYSERDA RGGI Investments – Status Through 2018 September 23, 2019
- RGGI Investment Report for 2017 – October 15, 2019
- RGGI Lessons to Date November 2019 Edition November 5, 2019
- RGGI – A Cap and Tax Market Program January 4, 2020
- NYSERDA RGGI-Funded Program Results February 18 2020
- Acadia Center RGGI 10-Year Review April 15, 2020
- RGGI Leakage April 28, 2020
- Part 242 Comments – Background and Rationale for Revisions June 25, 2020
- Part 242 Comments on the Regulatory Impact Statement June 25, 2020
- Investment of RGGI Proceeds Report for 2018 July 30, 2020
- Critique of RGGI 101 How it Works and How it Benefits Pennsylvanians August 7, 2020
- My Testimony to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Environmental Resources & Energy Committee September 2, 2020
- RGGI Response to Investment of RGGI Proceeds 2018 Letter September 4, 2020
- 2020 76West Clean Energy Competition Winners, October 24, 2020
- Another Cautionary RGGI Tale from New York January 4, 2021
- Update on NYSERDA RGGI-Funded Programs, April 21, 2021
- Updated Comments on Pennsylvania Participation in RGGI May 28, 2021
- Investment of RGGI Proceeds Report for 2019 June 28, 2021
- RGGI Secondary Allowance Market in the Fifth Compliance Period September 14, 2021
- RGGI Third Program Review October 4, 2021
- RGGI Third Program Review Listening Session 5 October 2021, October 10, 2021
- Investment of RGGI Proceeds Report for 2020 December 8, 2022
- New York RGGI Funding Status Report CO2 Emission Reductions December 20, 2022
- New York RGGI Operating Plan Amendment 2023 January 5, 2023
- Making Climate Policy Work, RGGI, and New York Cap and Invest February 17, 2023
- Response to RGGI Operating Plan Amendment Comments February 23, 2023
- Comments on RGGI Third Program Review May 4, 2023
- RGGI Third Program Review June 6, 2023
- Investment of RGGI Proceeds Report for 2021 June 28, 2023
- RGGI Investment Report Lessons for Cap and Invest Programs July 2, 2023
- Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Third Program Review October 20, 2023
- Comments Submitted to RGGI for Third Program Review November 6, 2023
- NY RGGI Operating Plan Stakeholder Process December 19, 2023
- NY RGGI Operating Plan Stakeholder Process Checking the Box December 20, 2023
- New York RGGI Operating Plan Amendment 2024 December 29, 2023