Initiative Seeks Project Proposals for More Than 10 Million Tons of Offsets
Five power companies are seeking greenhouse gas (GHG) offset proposals for more than 10 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions sourced from projects within the United States. The companies are interested in acquiring high quality GHG offsets for compliance with current and future mandatory climate change policies as well as for use to attain corporate emission reduction goals. This is likely the largest offset acquisition effort to date focused exclusively on the emerging U.S. offset market.
This request for GHG offset project proposals is being released by the U.S. GHG Offset Acquisition Initiative. The participants in this Initiative are: Conectiv Energy Supply, Inc.; Dominion Resources Services, Inc.; Entergy Corporation; NRG Energy, Inc.; and Public Service Enterprise Group. Collectively the participants’ annual revenues exceed $60 billion and their total power generation capacity exceeds 100,000 megawatts (MW).
The participants have teamed with The Climate Trust and M. J. Bradley & Associates, Inc. to leverage their respective expertise in the offset market and climate change policy. The Climate Trust is a non-profit organization that promotes climate change solutions by acquiring high quality GHG offsets and advancing sound offset policy. M. J. Bradley & Associates, Inc. is a strategic consulting firm that works with a wide range of clients to help them understand and respond to the political, scientific, technical, and business implications of climate change policy.
“The companies participating in this request for proposal are taking a leadership role in the continued development of the offset market,” said Mike Burnett, Executive Director of The Climate Trust.
Michael Bradley, Principal of M. J. Bradley & Associates, Inc., added: “A robust and high quality U.S. offset market is critical to achieve cost effective GHG emission reductions. This Initiative will serve as a catalyst towards that goal.”
To reflect the national scope of the anticipated offset purchases, the RFP consists of two “windows” through which project applicants can propose offset projects.
- The first window is for projects that will generate offsets intended for use in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The companies are interested in projects in any of the five eligible project sectors as well as any project located in a RGGI-participating state, regardless of sector. The states currently participating in RGGI include: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. RGGI eligible sectors include: landfill gas capture and destruction, manure methane capture and use, reduction of SF6 emissions in the electricity transmission and distribution sector, end use fossil fuel efficiency in the commercial and residential sectors, and afforestation.
- The second RFP window is for projects that do not fall within the RGGI offset sectors and are located outside of a RGGI state. The Initiative participants are interested in a wide variety of U.S. based GHG reduction opportunities and project applicants of all types are encouraged to submit a proposal under the RFP.
It is anticipated that the process of selecting projects and finalizing emission reduction purchase agreements will be completed by February 2008. The Initiative will look to expedite this schedule when feasible.
Additional details on the RFP including the submission forms are available on The Climate Trust’s website at http://www.climatetrust.org/solicitations_2 007_RFP.php
Initiative Participating Companies
Conectiv Energy Supply, Inc. is a competitive wholesale energy sales and marketing subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc. The company is an asset-backed merchant energy business using market expertise and intellectual capital to optimize the value of its power plants and energy portfolio in the wholesale energy marketplace.
Dominion Resources, Inc. is the leading generator of electricity in New England and one of the nation’s largest producers of energy. The company’s asset portfolio consists of about 28,000 megawatts of power generation, 6,000 miles of electric transmission, about 6.5 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves, 7,800 miles of natural gas pipeline and the nation's largest natural gas storage system, with about 960 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. Dominion also serves retail energy customers in 11 states.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States.
NRG Energy, Inc. is a wholesale power generation company, primarily engaged in the ownership and operation of power generation facilities and the sale of energy, capacity and related products in the United States and internationally. The Company has a diverse portfolio of electric generation facilities in terms of geography, fuel type and dispatch levels.
Public Services Enterprise Group is a growing energy and energy services company headquartered in New Jersey. Its main subsidiaries are: PSEG Power LLC, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and PSEG Energy Holdings LLC.
The Climate Trust
The Climate Trust has invested more than $8.3 million into 17 carbon offset projects that are projected to offset more than 2.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent making it one of the largest and most experienced offset buyers in the U.S. and world markets. The Climate Trust provides offsets to power plants, regulators, businesses, and other entities of all sizes. Website:
http://www.climatetrust.org MJ Bradley & Associates
M. J. Bradley & Associates, Inc. assists private sector clients in developing comprehensive GHG strategies to mitigate the risks to their business and to capture the potential opportunities associated with climate change. MJB&A also provides policy coordination and advocacy support for industry coalitions and individual industry clients. Website: http://www.mjbradley.com
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