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City administrator urges watchful pause on Climate Commitment Act impacts for the city's natural gas utility
Summary
City Administrator Chris Searcy delivered updated CCA modeling showing uncertainty over allowance linkage and auction prices; he recommended pausing new policy actions while monitoring market linkage, Ecology rulemaking and allowance-price dynamics that drive higher projected customer costs.
Uniontown ' City Administrator Chris Searcy briefed the council on possible cost impacts of the Climate Commitment Act on the city's natural gas utility and recommended the city monitor developments rather than adopt immediate local compliance measures.
Searcy compared Washington's program trajectory to California's earlier experience and highlighted current auction prices and market linkage uncertainty. "The last one was about $65 a metric ton," he said, and contrasted that with the California auction, which "was under $30." He showed modeled customer charges and described two trajectories: a low-cost path (prices more like California) and an upper path if Washington's prices follow the program's designed escalation. For newer natural-gas connections he reported a CCA charge around 33'¢ per CCF and for older connections "about 6 or 7 cents" now, and said modeled impacts could grow materially over five years if prices follow the higher path.
Searcy noted state-level uncertainties: delayed emissions reporting, questions about linkage with California and Quebec markets, and actions by Ecology that can affect allowance supply. He said the state moved 18.6 million allowances into the first compliance period and that roughly 600,000 remained available in the reserve for the period. "So there's a lot of things going on that I think we just need to kinda sit back and and observe and and see how these things play out," Searcy said. He recommended no immediate policy action by the city and flagged an upcoming executive session to discuss the city's CCA auction bidding strategy.
Council members asked clarifying questions about default zoning and annexation issues earlier in the meeting, and Searcy said staff had no immediate policy proposals to present; instead, staff will continue monitoring auction prices, Ecology rulemaking outcomes and the possible market linkage that could affect allowance prices and customer charges.
What happens next: Staff will monitor CCA developments, report back as Ecology rulemaking and market linkage unfold, and discuss auction-bid strategy in executive session as permitted under state law (RCW 42.30.11).
