Patrick signs regional greenhouse gas initiative
By Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press Writer  |  January 18, 2007

BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick, making good on a campaign pledge, signed an agreement Thursday committing Massachusetts to the nation's first multistate program to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Patrick also announced a new program intended to create energy savings for households and industry by auctioning off so-called "emission allowances" that electricity generators will need for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit under the pact.

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The main goal of the bipartisan RGGI is to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. As part of the program, the states are set to begin charging power plants fees for carbon dioxide emissions beginning in 2009.

As part of the agreement, states are given "allowances" for emissions. Electricity generators like power plants will need the allowances for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit. Each state has the discretion to distribute the allowances however it wants.

Patrick said Massachusetts will auction off all of the allowances and use the money -- estimated at between $25 million to $125 million annually -- to create a new program to encourage energy savings.

The money would go to pay for energy efficiency, demand reduction, renewable energy programs, and combined heat and power projects, which use what is normally wasted heat from power generation for efficient heating.

The funds will also be used to manage peak demand for electricity, lowering electric bills for consumers, Patrick said. Customers will have incentives to use technologies like automatic lighting and air conditioning controls that can help minimize peak-time usage.

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Glad to hear the new guv has brought us back onboard. As to where it goes w/alt. energy i assume it goes right into Nantucket Sound w/Cape Wind: the Right project in the WRONG place!

Yeah, I guess the wind should have known better than to blow in Senator Kennedy's view.

I'm so disappointed in him, really.  I guess I'm naive, but I thought he was better than that.