California companies fined for emissions
The California Air Resources Board has levied fines against several large businesses that failed to properly report their emissions.
Fuel refineries, electric utilities, and cement makes did not adhere to the states mandatory reporting rule and were subject to fines which totaled nearly $300,000.
Pacific Gas & Electric, one of California’s major energy providers, did not submit its emissions data by the ARB deadline.
PG&E will be facing a large compliance obligation under the California carbon market, in which the utility must account for every ton of carbon emissions it produces at its facilities.
Oil companies were also held accountable by the ARB.
ExxonMobil and Chevron have both received fines for failing to meet state environmental goals.
Chevron was forced to pay over $400,000 for violating California fuel standards by not including a large enough percentage of ethanol.
All of these companies will be required to account for their annual emissions by purchasing carbon allowances at quarterly auctions held by the ARB.
The auction this past May saw the allowance price settle at $14 per ton, which will likely prompt regulated businesses to buy carbon credits, which they can use to account for up to 8% of their emissions.
(7/19/13)