RGGI Auction Revenue Falls 36 Percent to $299 Million After Record High in March

The 68th quarterly carbon auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, the nation’s first market-based emissions regulation program, sold all of the more than 15.2 million CO2 allowances offered at a clearing price of $19.63, according to results released on June 6. This is slightly below the $19.76 clearing price in the previous auction held in March. Bids ranged from $2.62 to $45 per allowance with submitted bid volumes 2.5 times greater than available allowances.

The auction raised about $299 million, bringing the total proceeds to nearly $9.4 billion.    By contrast, the March auction generated record-high revenues of nearly $465 million driven by increased trading volumes. That auction sold out both the initial offering of approximately 15.4 million allowances and the full supply of 8.1 million allowances from the cost containment reserve—a fixed pool of additional allowances released when an auction’s interim clearing price exceeds a set threshold ($17.03 in 2025). Although bids in the latest auction again exceeded the CCR trigger price, no CCR allowances were available.

The latest auction did not withhold any allowances from the emissions containment reserve, or ECR, which contains 7.55 million allowances to be held back if an auctions’ interim clearing price falls below an established level ($7.86 in 2025). Compliance-oriented entities purchased 54 percent of the allowances offered, up from 52 percent at the March auction.

RGGI’s market-based approach sets an annually declining limit on power sector carbon emissions and allows polluters to buy or sell permits. States participating in RGGI auctions are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. RGGI states are currently considering the third review of the program examining design elements such as emissions cap trajectory, environmental justice, and equity considerations. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania awaits a court ruling as to whether it will be allowed to actively participate in RGGI and Virginia remains out of the program pending appeal of its withdrawal from the program.