Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Climate Commitment Act topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City administrator urges caution on Climate Commitment Act compliance costs for natural gas utility
Summary
City Administrator Chris Searcy presented updated analysis showing uncertain and potentially rising compliance costs under the Climate Commitment Act; he recommended monitoring linkage with other markets and waiting for more data rather than immediate policy changes.
Uniontown City Administrator Chris Searcy delivered a staff presentation on May 11 about how the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) might affect the city's natural gas utility, advising a measured approach given current uncertainty.
Searcy compared Washington's early experience with California's longer-running program and highlighted that allowance auction prices have been higher recently in Washington (Searcy cited about $65 per metric ton in a recent auction versus under $30 per ton in a cited California auction). He showed modeled trajectories in which costs to utilities could rise substantially over time depending on linkage and market dynamics.
Searcy said Washington is in the first four-year compliance period and noted the state has yet to publish some emissions reporting that would clarify demand for allowances. He also described the state's price containment reserve mechanism, noting that regulators had moved allowances forward into early compliance years and that the reserve may be largely depleted. Given those uncertainties, Searcy recommended the city pause on policy changes and watch for developments on linkage, reporting updates and Ecology rule-making.
"So that's kinda where we're at currently with that... there's nothing that we see is real scary that would suggest any action that we need to do now," Searcy said, while noting staff will return if a policy direction or incentive program becomes appropriate.
Council recessed to executive session to discuss auction bidding strategy as allowed under RCW 42.30.110(1)(q). No policy vote was taken at the meeting.
