The report, which was issued Tuesday along with drafts of an emergency regulation that would roll back the state’s RGGI rule and a letter notifying the market coordinator of Virginia’s withdrawal, was written by the Department of Environmental Quality in coordination with the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, a role until recently filled by Andrew Wheeler.
Under RGGI, all power producers whose units have a capacity of 25 megawatts or more are required to buy carbon allowances at quarterly auctions to cover each ton of carbon they emit.
When Virginia lawmakers set up the state’s RGGI program, they allowed the regulated electric utilities, which are responsible for three-quarters of the state’s power sector emissions, to pass on their carbon allowance costs to ratepayers.
Resources that are less expensive are dispatched first; consequently, the addition of RGGI costs makes it pricier to run carbon-emitting facilities and increases the likelihood that less carbon-intensive sources of energy will be prioritized.
Unlike regulated utilities such as Dominion, merchant generators must bear the costs of RGGI themselves.
Data from the U.S.
She is the recipient of a first place award for explanatory reporting from the Society of Environmental Journalists and has twice been honored by the Virginia Press Association as “Best in Show” for online writing.