SACRAMENTO, California — Prices for California carbon emission permits rallied slightly Wednesday as lawmakers stare down a Sept. 12 deadline to deliver on their promise of reauthorizing the program this year.
What happened: The quarterly sale of pollution permits that high-emitting companies buy from state regulators to cover their operations in California saw prices settle at $28.76 per ton of carbon in the Aug. 20 sale, $2.89 above the price floor.
All the permits sold, a sign that demand is back up after the May auction failed to sell all the permits for the first time since the pandemic and garnered a price of only $25.87.
The August sale generated roughly $843 million for state coffers, $107 million less than the proceeds of last year’s August auction.
