Two power plants miss RGGI CO2 compliance

Published 08:08 on June 3, 2015  /  Last updated at 08:16 on June 3, 2015  / /  Americas, US

Two firms failed to comply with RGGI’s 2012-2014 compliance deadline, the market regulator said Tuesday, as the nearly 200 power plants covered by the scheme handed over more than 264 million permits to cover for the emissions for the three-year period.

Two firms failed to comply with RGGI’s 2012-2014 compliance deadline, the market regulator said Tuesday, as the nearly 200 power plants covered by the scheme handed over more than 264 million permits to cover for the emissions for the three-year period.

In data released by RGGI, New York’s Niagara Generation and South Boston Combustion Turbines were the only market participants listed as non-compliant, while a handful others were market “pending”.

Niagara had failed to surrender nearly 270,000 permits and the Boston firm a little less than 5,000, the data showed.

Emissions from the plants averaged just over 88 million short tons of CO2 over the three-year period, a drop of more than 40% since 2005, the majority of which is due to a shift from coal to natural gas in the region.

The cap was 91 million short tons in 2014, and will be reduced by 2.5% each year to 2020.

“Power plants in the RGGI region have set an impressive example for the nation—reducing carbon pollution while supporting grid reliability and resiliency,” Kathy Dykes, newly appointed chair of RGGI, Inc said in a statement.

A number of states are reportedly considering joining the nine-state carbon market as part of their strategies to meet targets under the EPA’s Clean Power Plan.

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