Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led colleagues today in calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to heed the major energy industry players urging the commission to hold a technical conference on integrating carbon-pricing policies into wholesale energy markets. The senators echoed the points raised in an April petition organized from a wide coalition of groups – including major utilities, energy companies, industry groups, and think tanks – encouraging the commission to convene such a conference.
“You recently received a petition from a broad set of stakeholders that spans the energy industry, requesting that you convene a technical conference or workshop to discuss frameworks for integrating carbon emission reduction policies into our wholesale energy markets,” the senators write. “Specifically, the petition requests that FERC look at how carbon pricing can be integrated into our energy markets in a way that maintains reliable low-cost energy. We believe this issue warrants more attention from the Commission . . . .”
Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was joined in writing to the commission by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Angus King (I-ME).
Some areas of the country have already adopted different forms of carbon-pricing regimes. Northeastern states have formed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cap-and-trade system, while California has instituted the California-Quebec cap-and-trade agreement. New York’s grid operator has been studying how to integrate carbon pricing into its wholesale energy markets; initial findings suggests the savings to consumers over time may be considerable.
Full text of the senators’ letter to the commission is below. A PDF copy is available here.
The Honorable Neil Chatterjee
Chairman
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20426
Dear Chairman Chatterjee:
As we all try to make our way through these challenging times, we know that the Commission schedule remains highly uncertain and subject to change.
You recently received a petition from a broad set of stakeholders that spans the energy industry, requesting that you convene a technical conference or workshop to discuss frameworks for integrating carbon emission reduction policies into our wholesale energy markets. Specifically, the petition requests that FERC look at how carbon pricing can be integrated into our energy markets in a way that maintains reliable low-cost energy.
We believe this issue warrants more attention from the Commission, especially in light of recent actions and statements from several grid operators. For example, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), ISO New England, PJM Interconnection, and California Independent System Operator Corporation have all taken steps or made statements supporting the policy outlined in the petition. NYISO has taken the most concrete steps and is actively working on a proposal exploring how a carbon price could be integrated into their energy market. Initial NYISO reporting shows that such a policy could help the state reach its stated climate policy goals, while bringing in billions in economic benefits to the state.
The Commission has a rare opportunity to heed the call from a diverse set of energy stakeholders who want to develop long-term certainty in the energy market with policies that could deploy and incentivize reliable, low cost, and emissions free energy. Therefore, we request that the Commission grant the request in this petition.
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