Wednesday, April 11, 2007
WHAT'S NEXT
PUBLIC HEARINGS on the emissions plan are expected to be held later this month by the Legislature.
IF LAWMAKERS approve it, the plan will require state agencies to formally change rules.
THE PACKAGE would come back for a final legislative approval next year.
Gov. Baldacci will present a plan today to slow global warming by limiting pollution from large power plants and creating financial incentives for energy producers to cut emissions.
The plan, a compromise negotiated privately with power generators, large electricity users and environmentalists, would require power generators to pay for the right to release heat-trapping carbon dioxide, a byproduct of fossil fuel combustion. The money they pay the state would be given out in grants to promote energy efficiency and conservation.
"The parties feel very strongly that they got this right," said David Littell, commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
If the plan is approved by the Legislature, Maine will join as many as nine other Eastern states to create a European-style cap-and-trade system and set the first carbon dioxide limits in the United States. Many see the plans developed by Maine and the other states as models for a national system.
"In a way, we're pre-positioning ourselves for the Olympic Games of cap-and-trade, which will be at the national and international levels," said Rep. Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, a key proponent of the effort.
Baldacci first joined with other governors in 2003 to create the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The states spent years negotiating the general terms of the trading system, and each state is now working out details of its own program and seeking legislative approval.
Participating states would freeze power plant emissions from 2009 to 2015, then reduce emissions 10 percent by 2019.
Large power plants in the 10 states account for about 150 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Maine's six large plants represent nearly 6 million tons.
Maine was one of the first states to create its own climate action plan to fight global warming. It has taken other steps, such as requiring more renewable energy use by state government and setting fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks sold in Maine. The new cap-and-trade system is considered a centerpiece of Baldacci's climate initiatives.
The plan is complex, and precisely how it will affect electricity rates for residents and businesses can't be predicted. But advocates of the effort say weeks of negotiations, as well as bipartisan support, will help put lawmakers at ease about doing something so new.
In the short term, the system is expected to increase power costs by perhaps 1 to 2 percent by 2019. The increase would depend on the market value of pollution allowances in the region and is likely to occur whether or not Maine participates, because most of the producers are in the other states.
Over time, advocates say, prices would be reduced because of efficiency improvements and lower peak demands.
Customers also would have more opportunities to reduce their own power use by taking advantage of new efficiency offers, advocates say.
Here's how the proposal would work:
n The state would auction off its allowances -- one credit for each ton of carbon dioxide emissions -- to the highest bidders. The credits could then be resold.
n Cleaner or more efficient power plants would have to spend less for credits. Dirtier ones would need to buy more credits or reduce their emissions.
n Revenue from the auction would go into the Maine Energy and Carbon Savings Trust Fund, which would award grants for energy efficiency and conservation programs. A portion of the funds would be dedicated to low-income residential customers and to small businesses.
n If the market price of allowances rose above $5 per ton of carbon dioxide, that revenue would be rebated to electricity users to limit the cost increases. A $5-per-ton price would be expected to increase a typical household's annual power bill by about $15.
n The state would set aside about one-third of its 6 million allowances for power plants at two Verso paper mills -- in Bucksport and Jay -- because the mills themselves use most of the electricity, as well as the waste steam and heat. The plants are considered highly energy-efficient and are unable to pass on the costs of the allowances to consumers the way other producers can.
Staff Writer John Richardson can be contacted at 791-6324 or at:
Reader comments
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Oh and what was the purpose again? Was it to lower the temperature and stop global warming. Well, by how much and when will the temperature be lower?
The New Religion just found it's funding source, and we all get to be members of the church--whether we want to or not.report abuse
Why is our governor (term used loosely) always concerned with making everyone pay? report abuse
This one sentence is all you need to read to get this BS.Shell games on a New York city sidewalk are more legit than this.
CMP will not make its shareholders absorb this!!
It all and I repeat ALL comes down to individual
consumers. Always has and always will!!!report abuse
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