{"id":2256,"date":"2013-08-21T13:04:35","date_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/?p=2256"},"modified":"2013-09-19T12:17:28","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T17:17:28","slug":"regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/08\/21\/regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Regulating Imports into RGGI: Toward a Legal, Workable Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On August 21, CCCL released a <a href=\"https:\/\/web.law.columbia.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/microsites\/climate-change\/files\/Publications\/Fellows\/RGGI%20paper_addendum%20Sept.pdf\">new white paper<\/a> that evaluates the legal workability and constitutionality of regulating imports into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or \u201cRGGI\u201d (for background on RGGI, the Northeastern states\u2019 cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide, see <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange?s=RGGI\">prior posts<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>RGGI is currently in an exciting period of reform.\u00a0 In February 2013, participating states announced plans to lower RGGI\u2019s cap on carbon dioxide emissions by 45% in 2014. At the same time, RGGI states made a commitment to work towards a solution to address the emissions from electricity imports into the region.\u00a0 Given that imports make up between 10 and 52% of various RGGI states\u2019 electricity consumption, and that these percentages may increase under a tightened emissions cap, it is a critical time to delve more deeply into the options available to RGGI to deal with imports\u2019 emissions.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Our white paper examines what is frequently considered the most feasible mechanism for RGGI to use in regulating imports: an obligation on RGGI \u201cload serving entities\u201d (LSEs)\u2014those companies responsible for supplying electricity to end-use customers\u2014to purchase allowances to account for the emissions associated with the electricity they sell that is imported.\u00a0 Ultimately, although there are many design complexities yet to be worked out, we find that an LSE-centered approach could present a viable pathway forward for RGGI states\u2019 regulation of imports.\u00a0 It is likely to create long-term price signals about the value of clean energy and to help prevent emissions \u201cleakage.\u201d\u00a0 However, an LSE-centered approach also has some features that may be considered drawbacks: it would likely increase consumer prices within RGGI without sending any <i>immediate<\/i> price signals to out-of-state generators to incentivize their emissions reductions (instead, such price signals will develop over time as new clean generation and demand-side resources come on-line).<\/p>\n<p>After considering how such a mechanism might be designed, the bulk of the white paper examines whether an LSE-centered mechanism could survive a constitutional challenge under either the dormant Commerce Clause or Federal Power Act preemption.\u00a0 We conclude that the scheme has a good chance of surviving constitutional scrutiny because it places compliance burdens on in-state retail suppliers that purchase electricity from regional wholesale markets, such that out-of-state generators will see minimal effects.\u00a0 Moreover, imports regulations are fundamentally <i>not<\/i> protectionist regulations\u2014to the contrary, RGGI imposes far greater burdens on in-state generators than out-of-state generators would face.\u00a0 However, our conclusions are subject to several caveats and nuances explored in our analysis.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On August 21, CCCL released a new white paper that evaluates the legal workability and constitutionality of regulating imports into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or \u201cRGGI\u201d (for background on RGGI, the Northeastern states\u2019 cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide, see prior posts). RGGI is currently in an exciting period of reform.\u00a0 In February 2013, participating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":768,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5701],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cap-trade","7":"czr-hentry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Regulating Imports into RGGI: Toward a Legal, Workable Solution - Climate Law Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/08\/21\/regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regulating Imports into RGGI: Toward a Legal, Workable Solution - Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On August 21, CCCL released a new white paper that evaluates the legal workability and constitutionality of regulating imports into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or \u201cRGGI\u201d (for background on RGGI, the Northeastern states\u2019 cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide, see prior posts). RGGI is currently in an exciting period of reform.\u00a0 In February 2013, participating [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\/climatechange\/2013\/08\/21\/regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Law Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T18:04:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-19T17:17:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shelley Welton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sabincenter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shelley Welton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\\\/climatechange\\\/2013\\\/08\\\/21\\\/regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\\\/climatechange\\\/2013\\\/08\\\/21\\\/regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shelley Welton\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\\\/climatechange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d96b7333fc81bff00148b58154d8d9be\"},\"headline\":\"Regulating Imports into RGGI: Toward a Legal, Workable Solution\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-21T18:04:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-19T17:17:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\\\/climatechange\\\/2013\\\/08\\\/21\\\/regulating-imports-into-rggi-toward-a-legal-workable-solution\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":410,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.law.columbia.edu\\\/climatechange\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Cap &amp; 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