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City administrator urges caution on immediate Climate Commitment Act action for natural-gas utility
Summary
City administrator Chris Searcy briefed the council on the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), comparing Washington’s early experience with California, noting high allowance auction prices and uncertainty over market linkage, and recommended the city ‘wait and see’ before taking major local policy steps for the natural-gas utility.
City administrator Chris Searcy told the Uniontown City Council on May 11 that while the Climate Commitment Act will affect natural-gas utilities, current data and market uncertainty argue against immediate, large-scale local policy action.
Searcy reviewed comparative data from California and Washington, noting California’s program started earlier and that auction dynamics differ; recent Washington auction settlement prices have been around $65 per metric ton compared with under $30 in California’s later auctions. He said those differences—and uncertainty about when or whether Washington will link with California/Quebec markets—affect cost projections for local utilities and ratepayers.
Searcy summarized staff analysis showing a range of possible futures: a lower-cost path if allowance prices align with California’s experience and a higher-cost path if Washington follows its designed escalation. He said that for most residential customers in the near term the per-unit charge from the CCA would be a fraction of current rates (he cited an illustrative increase from roughly $1.30 per therm to an added 33¢ per therm under certain scenarios), but warned that costs could accelerate in later years if allowance prices rise.
Staff highlighted additional uncertainties: the state’s allowance price-containment reserve has largely been drawn down and Ecology rulemaking (including which sources are covered) will affect available allowances and future prices. Searcy said the city is in the first four-year compliance period and recommended monitoring linkage, Ecology decisions and auction outcomes rather than immediately pursuing aggressive local policy changes. He noted staff may pursue targeted customer incentives in the future (for example, to support voluntary heat-pump adoption) but said no policy proposals were ready for council action.
Council scheduled an executive session to discuss auction bidding strategy under RCW 42.30.110(1)(q) and then adjourned; Searcy said staff will continue to watch the market and regulatory developments and return with proposals if and when clearer signals emerge.
