SACRAMENTO, California — Polluters paid the bare minimum for California carbon emission permits in the state’s latest quarterly auction and didn’t even buy everything on offer, a sign that uncertainty continues to dampen the market despite its recent reauthorization.
What happened: Officials announced Wednesday the results of the Feb. 18 sale of pollution permits that high-emitting companies buy from state regulators to cover their operations in California. The quarterly action, which was the first since the California Air Resources Board released new draft rules for the market, saw prices finalizing at $27.94 per ton of carbon. That was the minimum set by the state and $0.38 lower than the previous auction in November.
The auction also came up short for the first time since last May’s auction; the high-emitting companies left roughly 4 percent of the advance permits, which cover emissions in 2029, on the table.
Overall, the sale generated roughly $919 million for state coffers.
