What Happened During the Final CCA Auction of 2025

On Wednesday, the Washington State Department of Ecology (ECY) released the results from the final Climate Commitment Act (CCA) allowance auction of 2025. The auction brought in $394 million in new state revenue from covered entities, bringing the total funding generated by cap-and-invest in 2025 to $1.68 billion, and to $4.32 billion all-time.

On average, allowance prices in 2025 are below projections released by ECY in 2022. That economic modeling predicted an average allowance price of $64.76 for 2025. Now that all auctions have occurred, including an Allowance Price Containment Reserve (APCR) auction, Washington’s carbon market allowance price averaged $57.60 in 2025.

Clean & Prosperous anticipates market prices to settle in the longer term, as advance auction allowances once again sold for under $30. Right now, allowance supply is unnecessarily constrained because the Washington State Department of Ecology has not yet implemented HB 1975, which would steady compliance periods without altering our overall emissions reduction goals. You can find more information on HB 1975 in this presentation from ECY. We continue to urge the agency to quickly implement this legislation.

We have two other key takeaways:

The CCA generated $725 million more than anticipated in 2025 as prices bounced back after the threat of repeal. This significant influx in funding should be used wisely on projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality while spurring innovation and the acceleration of the clean energy transition.
Linkage must remain a top priority for Washington state – and our partners in California and Québec. Linking our carbon markets strengthens program durability, market stability, lowers compliance costs, reduces pollution leakage risk, increases investment predictability, and has the potential for enhanced collective ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across jurisdictions.

Washington’s carbon market continues to find efficiencies while generating a resilient source of funding for pollution reduction projects. You can explore Mapping Washington’s Climate Commitments to learn more about where CCA funding is going: https://climatecommitment.cleanprosperousinstitute.org/

More Future of Carbon Policy Speakers Announced!

We’re excited to announce new speakers at our 2026 Future of Carbon Policy Forum!

Rajinder Sahota, Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change & Research at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Rajinder directs CARB’s scientific, technical, and policy teams and oversees the state’s cap-and-invest program, low carbon fuels standards, energy and climate policy, fuels programs, and critiical research. Rajinder will join us to discuss the planned linkage of Washington, California, and Québec’s carbon markets as well as how programs like cap-and-invest advance subnational leadership on climate action.
Chris Dougher, Vice President of Operations, Sila. Chris oversees the expansion of Sila’s operations function – including the planned manufacturing facility in Moses Lake that will bring hundreds of jobs to Washington state. Chris will join our panel of David & Patricia Giuliani Clean Energy Entrepreneur Award finalists, moderated by Lisa Stiffler of GeekWire.
Lāth Carlson, Executive Director and CEO, National Nordic Museum. We’ll hear from our hosts about the National Nordic Museum’s longstanding commitment to sustainability, including through a Climate Commitment Act-funded solar and storage project that is underway at the museum!

We encourage you to get your tickets by December 19 to secure your spot at this year’s forum.

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Thank you to our sponsors for making the 2026 Future of Carbon Policy Forum possible!

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