States Are Using Social Cost of Carbon in Energy Decisions, Despite Trump’s Views
What would you pay to have a beach to go to, fish on the shore, or not have to move your manufacturing plant inland due to flooding?
Such questions are being asked today by corporations and States in considering the price of Carbon and other greenhouse gases. Yes, these social factors can be quantified into $/kWh, some as high as $43/ton of carbon. Put simply, the social cost of carbon is a dollar estimate of the future damages from droughts, sea level rise, heat waves and other climate impacts wrought by each ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.
Consider how one utility regulator explained the cost imposed on his utility due to social costs;
“We know that climate change makes our [power] generation fleet less efficient. We know that it causes wildfires and other natural disasters that affect our transmission and distribution system. We know that there are actual costs to utility customers that come from not acting to prevent catastrophic climate change.”
The federal Government recently relaxed the social cost provisions due to the “impact to the economy and jobs”. Such federal shortsightedness is not new but, passing the pollution onto future generations in the hopes of retaining current jobs seems like a false promise for such a huge impact on future generations.
Realgy Energy Services is a registered Retail Energy Marketer in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. We offer Service Plans that will provide electric and natural gas at wholesale pricing direct to customers without any utility markup. Our Service Plans work with the local utility to provide seamless service and annual energy savings. Service Plans include Guaranteed SavingsTM, ManagedPriceTM, ManagedGreenTM Index, Fixed and PriceAssuranceTM.
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