Nine Northeastern states are sharing $115 million from the latest auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which limits power plant carbon emissions while supporting renewable energy.
The initiative, called RGGI, limits how much carbon power plants can emit and requires them to buy allowances for the carbon they do emit. The 30th quarterly auction of allowances, held Wednesday, raised $115 million for the nine RGGI states.
The states are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. The states use most of the proceeds for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
In New York, RGGI is a key element in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent while generating 50 percent of the state's electricity by renewable energy sources by 2030.
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