Look below for current WCI news and updates.For older news and updates item, and the archive of announcements distributed via the WCI mailing list, follow the links to the left.
Detailed program design lays the groundwork for a regional cap-and-trade program and other strategies to reduce greenhouse gases, lower energy costs
On July 27, 2010 the Partner jurisdictions of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) released a comprehensive strategy designed to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), stimulate development of clean-energy technologies, create green jobs, increase energy security and independence, and protect public health.
The Partner jurisdictions of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) have released an updated economic analysis confirming that its regional plan to reduce greenhouse emissions (GHG) is both environmentally achievable and economically positive. The economic analysis indicates that the WCI Partner jurisdictions can achieve the goal of reducing emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020—and realize net cost savings of approximately US$100 billion between 2012 and 2020.
The effect on the electricity sector of a cap and trade program and the First Jurisdictional Deliverer (FJD) approach to capture emissions associated with imports was previously reviewed for Western Partner Jurisdictions in the Electricity Leakage Analysis Summary Report. Reflecting the differing circumstances for Eastern electricity markets required a second analysis. Partners contracted with Navigant Consulting to: model the impact of the proposed WCI caps in the three Eastern WCI Partners on power imports and exports; estimate the GHG emission content of the power imports; and estimate the potentials for leakage and contract shuffling. Included in the analysis was the effect on leakage and contract shuffling if linkages were in place with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord.
On April 12, 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting rules for oil and gas production and processing operations. Oil and gas production, natural gas processing, and gas transmission are significant sources of GHG emissions in some of the WCI jurisdictions.WCI supports EPA's proposal to require the reporting of GHG emissions in this sector. Accurate quantification and reporting of emissions is critical to better understanding GHG emission sources, the magnitude of emissions, and the opportunities for reductions.
The WCI evaluated the proposed EPA reporting rules and submitted extensive comments based on technical validity, the appropriateness for jurisdictional level reporting and whether the methodologies would provide cap-and-trade quality data.
This document and its appendices contain the WCI's proposal for harmonizing the ERs and the EPA rule in U.S. jurisdictions. It takes the form of a markup of the EPA rule showing the changes to the EPA program that are needed to support a cap-and-trade program. The WCI anticipates that WCI jurisdictions in the U.S. will implement the harmonized ERs by adopting a rule that incorporates the EPA rule by reference with the changes shown in the markup.
The WCI approved and released its final white paper on complementary policies at the May 20 Partner meeting in Seattle, WA. Complementary policies can address market barriers that would otherwise limit the use of low-cost greenhouse gas emission-reduction options and reduce emissions from sources excluded from the cap-and-trade program.
On Monday, May 17, the New Mexico Environment Department released a preliminary draft rule for a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state. The draft rule defines the conditions that would allow New Mexico to implement the program as part of the WCI regional program. As described in the draft rule, the program would initially apply only to sources that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide per year.
Updates to BC's Cap-and-Trade Act, first introduced in 2008, were recently introduced to the BC Legislative Assembly. The amendments further clarify existing statutory power to enable implementation of details of the cap-and-trade program that BC has been developing in collaboration with its WCI partners. A vote is expected prior to the adjournment of the legislative session in the first week of June and will be followed by intentions papers to consult on proposed regulations.
Materials from the May 19th Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Benchmarking Symposium, as well as a white paper that examines issues and options for benchmarking industrial GHG emissions, are available here. This symposium on understanding the value of benchmarking was hosted by the Washington State Department of Ecology and the WCI, Additional background information on this project – including the scoping memo – is available at Ecology’s website.
The three regional climate initiatives in North America, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the Midwestern GHG Reduction Accord (the Accord), and the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) have joined in a cooperative effort to share experiences in the design and implementation of regional cap-and-trade programs, inform federal decision making on climate change policy, and explore the potential for further collaboration among the three regional programs in the future.
The WCI Partners recommend that RECs have no role in the WCI Partner jurisdictions' mandatory GHG reporting and compliance protocols. Under this approach, the compliance obligation of first jurisdictional deliverers of electricity would be based only on the actual GHG emissions occurring as a result of generating electricity (as described in the Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program). First jurisdictional deliverers with a GHG compliance obligation would not be able to use RECs to reduce their compliance obligations, and null power would not have GHG emissions attributed to it.
In its Market Oversight Draft Recommendations (issued on April 5, 2010), the Markets Committee identified twelve policy decisions, including whether or not to implement “holdings limits,” limits on the number of allowances or offset certificates any entity could control. The WCI Partners commissioned a consultant’s report on this issue, to review the history, theory, and use of similar limits in other markets, as well as recommendations on their use in a regional cap-and-trade program.
The Western Climate Initiative announces its newest observer, Yukon Territory. Yukon joins six Mexican states, six US states, and two Canadian provinces, bringing the total number of WCI observers to fifteen. The WCI is a collaboration of seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Participation in the WCI reflects the strong commitment of each Partner jurisdiction to take cooperative actions to address climate change. All eleven WCI Partner jurisdictions are active participants, developing and recommending programs and policies to achieve the WCI's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.
The WCI program design recommends auctioning a portion of the emission allowances under the program. This white paper is the first step in developing recommendations on auction design,including identifying design decisions to be made and assessing their inherent tradeoffs.
The WCI's Offsets Committee was tasked with developing recommendations for offset criteria and carrying out the joint review, adaptation, and development of protocols by the Partner jurisdictions. Today, the WCI Partners release two documents to further its efforts to design the WCI Offset System: draft recommendations on criteria for offsets in an offsets system, and a review of existing offset protocols in the priority project types against the WCI draft offset criteria.
In September 2008, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) Partner jurisdictions released the final "Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program." In February 2009, the Partner jurisdictions released the WCI 2009 - 2010 Work Plan, describing the approach to implementing the Design Recommendations. Among the activities identified, the Markets Committee's "market oversight" task is examining measures to ensure that the allowance and offset credit trading market is organized properly to operate reliably and prevent or minimize manipulation. This task reflects the commitment of the WCI Partner jurisdictions to provide appropriate safeguards and oversight of the allowance and offset credit trading markets. Today, the Partner jurisdictions release the Markets Committee's Draft Recommendations on Market Oversight.
The Committee identified twelve policy decisions and examined the background, options, and pros and cons for each. The Committee welcomes comment on all the Draft Recommendations, individually and collectively, and in particular on:
Whether the tools available to WCI Partner jurisdictions for market oversight have been completely and correctly identified;
Whether the Draft Recommendations would correctly maximize the environmental and economic benefit to the public and support WCI's Principles of Market Oversight;
Whether the Committee should recommend collection of derivatives position information from market participants, including on over-the-counter derivatives; and if so, what of that information to disclose to the public; and
The Draft Recommendation to require secondary market trades to use a central limit order book.
The Markets Committee looks forward to stakeholder input on these Draft Recommendations. Written comments will be received via the WCI website until April 30, 2010. Stakeholders may also ask questions of WCI jurisdictions' staff and provide comment during a conference call on April 20, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time, during which these draft recommendations will be presented and discussed. Click here for details on how to join this call.
The WCI Partner jurisdictions are developing a rigorous offset system as part of the design for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program. The purpose of the offset system is to reduce compliance costs while encouraging emission reductions, innovation, and technology development for sources and sinks not covered by the cap-and-trade program.
To ensure a majority of emission reductions required under the program occur at covered entities and facilities, the WCI Partner jurisdictions set a limit on the use of offset credits issued by the WCI, as well as offsets and allowances issued by other trading systems that are recognized by the WCI Partner jurisdictions, to no more than 49 percent of the total emission reductions from 2012 to 2020. This limit and rationale are established in the WCI's Design Recommendations.
To develop the recommendations for implementing the WCI offset limit, the WCI Cap Setting and Allowance Distribution (CSAD) Committee produced a background paper and solicited and carefully considered stakeholder comments. In May 2009, CSAD issued a white paper and hosted a stakeholder workshop. On the basis of input received and further deliberations, CSAD developed draft recommendations on how to implement the offset limit, which were posted for stakeholder comment in October 2009. The WCI Partners considered these comments, further discussed the recommendations at their March 3 meeting in Vancouver, and have since approved the recommendations. The document describing the recommendations for implementing the offset limit is available here.
News & Updates
