Seattle, WA—Washington’s nation-leading Climate Commitment Act (CCA) continues to generate billions of dollars for climate protections and clean energy expansion in Washington, and is giving our state some resiliency against the federal backsliding on climate. 

Where’s the money going?

The state is required by law to invest CCA revenue in programs to help lower pollution, expand clean transit and clean energy generation, and protect and restore Washington lands, air, and water. Some examples of recently funded projects include: 

The Department of Commerce also just announced over $40 million for nearly 50 new community clean energy projects statewide. 

Funded projects can be found in detail on the Clean & Prosperous Institute’s Mapping Washington’s Climate Commitments tool, which is updated to reflect the 2025 Legislative session, or the Department of Ecology’s project map. 

Auction outcomes: CCA auction raises nearly $300 million for clean air, clean water, and clean transportation and additional $150 million to benefit ratepayers.

The September 3rd auction raised nearly $300 million, selling 4.6 million allowances at a price of $64.30–this brings the total revenue for this year to $850 million and total revenue since the program’s inception to an incredible $3.5 Billion. While prices have incrementally increased over the course of the year, prices have rebounded to 2023 levels and have steadied following the unpredictability and downward pressure from Initiative 2117 in 2024. 

It’s also important to note that the law has built in safeguards like the “allowance price containment reserve” intended to “contain” or limit price increases by putting more allowances up for sale in the year. With today’s announced auction results, there will be an auction for these additional allowances on November 12, 2025. Each auction this year has also raised revenue at consistent levels, which will ensure the Legislature can make informed decisions about CCA investments in the coming legislation session.

You can find Ecology’s summary report here for more details on this most recent auction. As a reminder, the state holds quarterly auctions in which polluters and investors purchase allowances. These allowances will decrease over time to align with our state’s emissions reductions mandates (via “the cap”), but the purchase of these allowances enables the state to “invest” in climate and clean energy solutions in Washington’s communities – hence its “cap-and-invest” moniker. 

CCA implementation continues: Expanding our carbon market, addressing poor local air quality, and addressing industrial pollution.

CCA implementation extends beyond the investments that are reaching our communities–it also includes wonky regulatory processes that will ultimately further the law’s mission to cut pollution on both the local and global scale. This includes a lengthy Ecology-led process to develop recommendations to the Legislature addressing industrial pollution under the CCA. This in-depth stakeholder engagement is in recognition of the barriers that industrial facilities have in decarbonizing, and to build pathways for them to be successful in doing so aligned with CCA’s decreasing climate emissions cap.

Ecology is also in the early stages of implementing the CCA’s commitment to improving air quality in overburdened communities. After years of scoping, Ecology is beginning its rulemaking process to determine how they, in partnership with local clean air agencies, can establish stricter air quality targets and strategies to reduce criteria air pollution in overburdened communities. Ecology is expected to release proposed rules for public comment this winter. 

Finally, Ecology continues its pursuit of the opportunity to “link” or merge with the California and Quebec cap-and-invest markets. Joining markets with the California-Quebec market poses a vital opportunity for market stabilization, regional collaboration, and safeguarding the CCA into the future against both state-led and federal attacks. Linkage does come with challenges and the state work to balance regional greenhouse gas emissions benefits with local emissions reductions and protections. Ecology is currently focused on rulemaking regarding smaller technical changes to facilitate linkage.