The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has generated $1.3 billion in net economic benefits across nine participating states, according to a new report from the Analysis Group at NARUC's summer meeting in New York.
That's potentially good news both for RGGI members and for states considering RGGI or RGGI-like state compacts in order to comply with EPA's forthcoming power plant carbon rules. There were costs to power generators, but most of the billion dollars states collected in allowance proceeds during the 2012-2014 period went back into the economy in the form of energy efficiency programs, renewable power projects, bill payment assistance, according to the report. "The design, administration, and implementation of a multi-state, market-based carbon control mechanism can be an effective way to control carbon emissions, while potentially providing additional economic and policy benefits to member states," the report concludes.
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