NEW YORK – An auction of carbon emissions credits will deliver $735,475 to Rhode Island primarily for energy efficiency programs managed by National Grid.
The money comes from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s tenth auction held Wednesday. The electronic auction raised $48.2 million through the sale of credits in the initiative’s 10-state jurisdiction that includes all of New England as well as Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
The price to emit one ton of carbon dioxide was $1.86, the same as the previous auction, held in September.
But overall proceeds fell by $18.2 million and Rhode Island saw a $225,860 drop in its share. Massachusetts received $7.3 million, a $2.3 million drop compared with the previous auction.
Power sector CO2 emissions are capped at 188 million tons per year through 2014; between 2015 and 2018, the cap will be reduced by 2.5 percent annually for an overall reduction of 10 percent.
So far, Rhode Island has received $12.3 million through the 10 auctions. The Bay State has collected $123.2 million.
