Carbon-Trading Market Could Come To Georgia

One way Georgia could implement the EPA’s rules, would be to just tell utilities to cap their emissions, and the utilities would have to do it. But there’s another option. The state could start a market, where companies trade the right to emit carbon dioxide.

“Some of our utilities have shown some comfort with that,” said Bert Pearce, an environmental engineer with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. He’s leading Georgia’s efforts to comply with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan.

At an EPD workshop on Wednesday, Tracy Hawkins of Georgia Power said the company generally prefers a market over other options.  

The market is nowhere near a sure thing. And there’s more that’s still up in the air: the state doesn’t even know how much carbon it’ll have to cut. The state will have to decide if it will reduce emissions on its own, or cooperate with other states. And regulators are worried about how quickly Georgia would have to come up with a complicated emissions reduction plan.

Chuck Eaton, the chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, said he has concerns with the Clean Power Plan. But he thinks the market could be a step towards something bigger.

“Now I don’t think this’ll happen overnight,” he said. “But I could see five or 10 years from now, a national market where yeah, you’re trading in and out of it depending on whether your cost of compliance is higher or lower.”

Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, executive director of GreenLaw, said she’d be on board with the market solution, as long as it’s well-regulated.  

“We just want to make sure that whatever policy is implemented, we’re looking at really focusing on reducing carbon emissions and protecting public health,” she said.

The EPA’s final rule, which will lay out Georgia’s emissions reductions targets, is scheduled to come out this summer. The state would then have a year to figure out its plan.