List of Western Climate Initiative auctions

The Western Climate Initiative is a coalition of regional governments cooperating to organize a carbon emissions trading scheme. As of 2026, the participating entities are the American states of California and Washington and the Canadian province of Quebec.

Auction history

Terminology

  • CE (Compliance entities): Businesses or organizations who are required to report their emissions
  • SP (Settlement price): Lowest price of a successful bid in a sealed-bid auction. All successful bids pay this price.
    • All prices are demarcated in US dollars. For joint Canadian/US auctions, the official USD settlement was used.
    • For Quebec-only auctions, a historic conversion rate was used.[a]
  • HHI (Hirfindahl-Hirschman Index): Measures concentration of market share in a score out of 10,000 basis points.
    • Calculated by summing the squares of the percentage market share of each participant.
    • Usually multiplied by 10,000 for ease of reporting (e.g., 0.1133 ⟶ 1133)
  • BR (Bid ratio): Total number of submitted bids weighted by number of allowances divided by number of allowances offered.
    • Bid ratio of <1.0 means that not all the allowances offered were sold. When this happens in WCI auctions, the allowances that are sold go for the minimum price.
    • Bid ratio of >=1.0 means that all allowances offered were sold.
  • APCR (Allowance Price Containment Reserve): Washington's auction format allowed for special auctions to be held if the settlement breached a certain threshold. In these auctions, only compliance entities would be allowed to bid and the price would be fixed at a predetermined rate.
  • UD (Undisclosed): If there are too few entities bidding in an auction, the government may choose not to disclose the percentage of bids made by compliance entities to protect their privacy.
Settlement prices in auctions from 2014-2026

Market dynamics

Despite the similarity in structure of the auctions offered by Washington versus those offered jointly by Quebec and California, they have exhibited very different trends in both settlement prices themselves and relationship between current and advance vintage settlement prices. For most of the QC/CA auction's history, settlement prices for current and advance auctions have stayed close to the minimum price and have moved in tandem. As of Feb 2026, there were only five instances (Nov 2021, Feb 2022, May 2022, Aug 2022, Nov 2024) out of 44 joint QC/CA auctions where the variance of the current and advance vintage settlement prices was greater than 1. By contrast, Washington's auctions, which debuted in 2023, have almost never had a settlement price close to the minimum price, and in later years the settlement prices of current and advance auctions have diverged widely.

Some analysts have attributed the premium placed on Washington carbon allowances to the lack of surplus in allowances compared to the QC/CA market. Both pro-CCA politicians and compliance entities have suggested that linkage with the three markets would bring down the price of allowances by giving Washington access to a much larger secondary market.[1] When the Climate Commitment Act was passed, the fiscal not provided to legislators assumed that the program would be linked with QC/CA from the start. After it became clear that initial linkage would not happen, Washington Department of Ecology commissioned a forecast that predicted an average auction price of $63.92 in 2023 dollars.[2]

History

California and Quebec linked in 2014[3][4][5]

Date Gov Type Vintage SP Allow. sold Proceeds ($M) CE% BR HHI
min max
2012-11-14 CA Current 2013 2013 $10.09 23,126,110 $233.3 97.0% 1.06 1133
2012-11-14 CA Advance 2015 2015 $10.00 5,576,000 $55.8 91.0% 0.14 1485
2013-02-19 CA Current 2013 2013 $13.62 12,924,822 $176.0 88.2% 2.49 728
2013-02-19 CA Advance 2016 2016 $10.71 4,440,000 $47.6 100.0% 0.46 3159
2013-05-16 CA Current 2013 2013 $14.00 14,522,048 $203.3 90.2% 1.78 609
2013-05-16 CA Advance 2016 2016 $10.71 7,515,000 $80.5 86.5% 0.79 1198
2013-08-01 CA Current 2013 2013 $12.22 13,865,422 $169.4 95.5% 1.62 861
2013-08-01 CA Advance 2016 2016 $11.10 9,560,000 $106.1 96.3% 1.69 1605
2013-11-01 CA Current 2013 2013 $11.48 16,614,526 $190.7 96.2% 1.82 683
2013-11-01 CA Advance 2016 2016 $11.10 9,560,000 $106.1 91.3% 1.64 1165
2014-02-19 CA Current 2014 2014 $11.48 19,538,695 $224.3 84.5% 1.27 533
2014-02-19 CA Advance 2017 2017 $11.38 9,260,000 $105.4 83.5% 1.11 1568
2014-05-16 CA Current 2014 2014 $11.50 16,947,080 $194.9 89.5% 1.46 482
2014-05-16 CA Advance 2017 2017 $11.34 4,036,000 $45.8 100.0% 0.44 1439
2014-08-18 CA Current 2014 2014 $11.50 22,473,043 $258.4 87.7% 1.14 618
2014-08-18 CA Advance 2017 2017 $11.34 6,470,000 $73.4 89.2% 0.70 1937
2013-12-01 QC Current 2013 2013 $10.43[a] 1,025,000 $10.67[a] UD 0.34 1984
2013-12-01 QC Advance 2016 2016 $10.43[a] 1,708,000 $17.8[a] UD 0.27 8575
2014-03-01 QC Current 2014 2014 $10.36[a] 1,035,000 $10.7[a] UD 0.99 1415
2014-03-01 QC Advance 2017 2017 $10.36[a] 1,285,000 $13.6[a] UD 0.84 2319
2014-05-01 QC Current 2014 2014 $10.36[a] 1,049,111 $10.8[a] UD 1.02 2147
2014-05-01 QC Advance 2017 2017 $10.36[a] 1,302,000 $13.5[a] UD 0.85 2260
2014-08-01 QC Current 2014 2014 $10.36[a] 694,000 $7.2[a] UD 0.66 1422
2014-08-01 QC Advance 2017 2017 $10.36[a] 1,455,000 $15.1[a] UD 0.95 1846
2023-02-28 WA Current 2023 2023 $48.50 6,185,222 $300.0 - 2.67 669
2023-05-31 WA Current 2023 2023 $56.01 8,585,000 $480.8 89.88% 1.95 631
2023-05-31 WA Advance 2026 2026 $31.12 2,450,000 $76.2 73.55% 1.44 756
2023-08-01 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $51.90 527,000 $27.4 100.0% 12.79 1315
2023-08-01 WA APCR Tier 2 N/A N/A $66.68 527,000 $35.1 100.0% 3.11 1315
2023-08-01 WA Current 2023 2023 $63.03 5,657,651 $356.6 85.46% 1.79 623
2023-11-01 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $51.90 5,000,000 $259.5 100% 3.20 2098
2023-12-06 WA Current 2023 2023 $51.89 7,142,146 $370.6 87.00% 1.48 592
2023-12-06 WA Advance 2026 2026 $45.00 2,449,760 $110.2 69.20% 1.66 692
2024-03-06 WA Current 2023 2024 $25.76 7,442,241 $191.7 91.31% 1.24 697
2024-06-05 WA Current 2023 2024 $29.92 7,802,337 $233.4 89.41% 1.25 697
2024-06-05 WA Advance 2027 2027 $24.02 1,317,000 $31.6 56.04% 0.60 991
2024-09-01 WA Current 2023 2024 $29.88 7,939,271 $237.2 83.20% 1.20 635
2024-10-01 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $56.16 1,022,000 $57.4 100.0% 0.34 ?
2024-12-08 WA Current 2023 2024 $40.26 7,985,130 $321.5 75.58% 1.15 597
2024-12-08 WA Advance 2027 2027 $26.00 2,222,832 $57.8 61.49% 1.14 696
2025-03-05 WA Current 2023 2025 $50.00 7,346,095 $367.3 81.99% 2.29 996
2025-06-04 WA Current 2024 2025 $58.51 6,754,086 $395.2 93.26% 2.44 1171
2025-06-01 WA Advance 2028 2028 $26.61 2,000,000 $53.2 66.65% 1.08 1081
2025-09-03 WA Current 2024 2025 $64.30 6,937,001 $446.0 92.69% 2.41 1,093
2025-10-01 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $60.43 3,641,333 $220.0 100.0% 4.22 1561
2025-11-01 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $60.43 3,641,333 $220.0 100.0% 6.15 1165
2025-12-03 WA Current 2024 2025 $70.86 7,424,390 $526.1 86.93% 1.96 906
2025-12-01 WA Advance 2028 2028 $29.40 1,945,905 $57.2 71.43% 1.72 1046
2026-02-01 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $60.43 3,641,333 $220.0 100.0% 7.20 1054
2026-03-04 WA Current 2023 2026 $65.26 5,315,841 $346.9 86.61% 1.76 1013
2026-05-20 WA APCR Tier 1 N/A N/A $65.26 129,262 100.0% 7.79 1204
2026-06-03 WA Current 2024 2026 $64.56 4,919,327 $317.6 88.49% 1.74 1388
2026-06-03 WA Advance 2029 2029 $30.00 1,750,000 $52.5 62.57% 1.90 1024
2014-11-01 CA,QC Current 2014 2014 $12.10 23,070,987 $279.2 97.6% 1.73 627
2014-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2017 2017 $11.86 10,787,000 $127.9 85.2% 1.92 1183
2015-02-01 CA,QC Current 2015 2015 $12.21 73,610,528 $898.8 93.5% 1.14 524
2015-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2018 2018 $12.10 10,431,500 $126.2 95.1% 1.02 1436
2015-05-01 CA,QC Current 2013 2015 $12.29 76,931,627 $945.5 93.6% 1.16 478
2015-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2018 2018 $12.10 9,812,000 $118.7 91.6% 0.94 1381
2015-08-01 CA,QC Current 2015 2015 $12.52 73,429,360 $919.3 95.2% 1.28 597
2015-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2018 2018 $12.30 10,431,500 $128.3 93.6% 1.78 1693
2015-11-01 CA,QC Current 2015 2015 $12.73 75,113,008 $956.2 89.3% 1.14 619
2015-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2018 2018 $12.65 10,431,500 $132.0 94.0% 1.32 1454
2016-02-01 CA,QC Current 2013 2016 $12.73 68,026,000 $866.0 97.5% 0.951 819
2016-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2019 2019 $12.73 9,361,000 $119.2 99.97% 0.929 1447
2016-05-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2016 $12.73 7,260,000 $92.4 99.8% 0.11 2780
2016-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2019 2019 $12.73 914,000 $11.6 100.0% 0.09 6313
2016-08-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2016 $12.73 30,021,000 $382.2 91.5% 0.35 1210
2016-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2019 2019 $12.73 769,000 $9.8 100.0% 0.08 5758
2016-11-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2016 $12.73 76,960,000 $979.7 89.9% 0.88 600
2016-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2019 2019 $12.73 1,020,000 $13.0 60.8% 0.10 2628
2017-02-01 CA,QC Current 2014 2017 $13.57 11,673,000 $158.4 98.5% 0.18 2037
2017-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2020 2020 $13.57 701,000 $9.5 92.9% 0.07 5903
2017-05-01 CA,QC Current 2017 2017 $13.80 75,311,960 $1,039.3 90.4% 1.23 793
2017-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2020 2020 $13.57 2,117,000 $28.7 82.3% 0.22 4483
2017-11-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2017 $15.06 79,548,286 $1,198.0 96.5% 1.37 918
2017-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2020 2020 $14.76 9,723,500 $143.5 92.3% 1.27 1453
2018-02-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2018 $14.61 98,215,920 $1,434.9 92.1% 1.21 436
2018-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2021 2021 $14.53 8,576,000 $124.6 89.0% 0.69 1727
2018-05-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2018 $14.65 90,587,738 $1,327.1 95.6% 1.36 668
2018-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2021 2021 $14.53 6,057,000 $88.0 77.7% 0.49 1444
2018-08-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2018 $15.05 79,421,265 $1,195.3 91.6% 1.22 584
2018-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2021 2021 $14.90 9,401,500 $140.1 75.3% 1.45 1281
2018-11-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2018 $15.31 78,825,717 $1,206.8 95.1% 1.17 721
2018-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2021 2021 $15.33 9,401,500 $144.1 79.8% 1.42 1799
2019-02-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2019 $15.73 80,847,404 $1,271.7 93.0% 1.21 563
2019-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2022 2022 $15.62 9,401,500 $146.9 81.6% 0.66 2312
2019-05-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2019 $17.45 66,321,122 $1,157.3 86.1% 1.46 701
2019-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2022 2022 $17.40 9,038,000 $157.3 84.9% 1.48 1528
2019-08-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2019 $17.16 66,289,515 $1,137.5 87.2% 1.49 623
2019-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2022 2022 $16.85 9,038,000 $152.3 71.1% 1.07 1369
2019-11-01 CA,QC Current 2013 2019 $17.00 67,435,661 $1,146.4 92.6% 1.28 815
2019-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2022 2022 $16.80 9,038,000 $151.8 79.5% 1.10 1551
2020-02-01 CA,QC Current 2017 2020 $17.87 57,090,077 $1,020.2 87.3% 1.52 624
2020-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2023 2023 $18.00 8,672,250 $156.1 71.0% 1.96 1615
2020-05-01 CA,QC Current 2017 2020 $16.68 21,161,000 $353.0 98.8% 0.37 2850
2020-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2023 2023 $16.68 1,763,000 $29.4 91.0% 0.20 4197
2020-05-01 CA,QC Current 2020 2020 $16.68 52,627,000 $877.8 96.5% 0.89 896
2020-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2023 2023 $16.73 8,672,250 $145.1 80.1% 1.29 1548
2020-11-01 CA,QC Current 2015 2020 $16.93 56,366,432 $954.3 84.1% 1.20 812
2020-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2023 2023 $17.35 8,672,250 $150.5 90.9% 1.37 1883
2021-02-01 CA,QC Current 2021 2021 $17.80 54,773,607 $975.0 89.4% 1.24 679
2021-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2024 2024 $18.01 8,306,250 $149.6 79.5% 1.12 1668
2021-05-01 CA,QC Current 2021 2021 $18.80 71,647,138 $1,347.0 79.9% 1.48 503
2021-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2024 2024 $19.04 8,306,250 $158.2 90.6% 1.23 1915
2021-08-01 CA,QC Current 2020 2021 $23.30 71,261,536 $1,660.4 67.5% 1.85 472
2021-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2024 2024 $23.69 8,306,250 $196.8 88.0% 1.45 1825
2021-11-01 CA,QC Current 2019 2021 $28.26 68,598,217 $1,938.6 81.3% 1.51 482
2021-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2024 2024 $34.01 8,306,250 $282.5 88.1% 1.20 1690
2022-02-01 CA,QC Current 2017 2022 $29.15 58,527,697 $1,706.1 86.5% 1.82 582
2022-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2025 2025 $19.70 7,079,000 $139.5 81.6% 0.89 1716
2022-05-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2022 $30.85 58,331,300 $1,799.5 87.7% 1.62 615
2022-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2025 2025 $28.13 7,942,750 $223.4 85.7% 2.40 1622
2022-08-01 CA,QC Current 2016 2022 $27.00 56,956,085 $1,537.8 87.6% 1.29 654
2022-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2025 2025 $30.00 7,942,750 $238.3 82.3% 2.51 1072
2022-11-01 CA,QC Current 2021 2022 $26.80 58,020,854 $1,555.0 80.44% 1.80 451
2022-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2025 2025 $26.00 7,942,750 $206.5 83.31% 2.35 1182
2023-02-01 CA,QC Current 2023 2023 $27.85 56,395,720 $1,570.6 87.06% 1.84 463
2023-02-01 CA,QC Advance 2026 2026 $27.01 7,577,000 $204.7 78.84% 2.43 1057
2023-05-01 CA,QC Current 2023 2023 $30.33 56,084,237 $1,701.0 86.36% 1.75 520
2023-05-01 CA,QC Advance 2026 2026 $30.05 7,577,000 $227.7 77.13% 2.63 1093
2023-08-01 CA,QC Current 2023 2023 $35.20 55,760,384 $1,962.8 83.45% 1.59 483
2023-08-01 CA,QC Advance 2026 2026 $34.16 7,577,000 $258.8 80.18% 2.02 1071
2023-11-01 CA,QC Current 2013 2023 $38.73 57,617,565 $2,231.5 80.39% 1.65 579
2023-11-01 CA,QC Advance 2026 2026 $37.40 7,577,000 $283.4 76.41% 2.27 749
2024-02-14 CA,QC Current 2024 2024 $41.76 51,216,056 $2,138.8 86.50% 1.72 638
2024-02-14 CA,QC Advance 2027 2027 $41.00 7,211,000 $295.7 74.76% 2.58 914
2024-05-22 CA,QC Current 2017 2024 $37.02 51,589,488 $1,909.8 86.25% 1.55 496
2024-05-22 CA,QC Advance 2027 2027 $38.35 7,211,000 $276.5 76.13% 2.15 906
2024-08-14 CA,QC Current 2019 2024 $30.24 51,179,715 $1,547.7 85.61% 1.57 525
2024-08-14 CA,QC Advance 2027 2027 $29.75 7,211,000 $214.5 76.58% 1.87 1110
2024-11-20 CA,QC Current 2019 2024 $31.91 52,629,612 $1,679.4 82.03% 1.50 535
2024-11-20 CA,QC Advance 2027 2027 $30.16 7,211,000 $217.5 72.36% 1.60 1148
2025-02-19 CA,QC Current 2025 2025 $29.27 51,466,028 $1,506.4 83.31% 1.74 565
2025-02-19 CA,QC Advance 2028 2028 $28.00 6,847,750 $191.7 59.49% 1.84 704
2025-05-21 CA,QC Current 2023 2025 $25.87 43,865,000 $1,134.8 81.49% 0.86 494
2025-05-21 CA,QC Advance 2028 2028 $26.15 6,847,750 $179.1 70.18% 1.25 1101
2025-08-20 CA,QC Current 2025 2025 $28.76 51,883,970 $1,492.2 84.76% 1.45 588
2025-08-20 CA,QC Advance 2028 2028 $28.50 6,847,750 $195.2 79.83% 1.67 1272
2025-11-19 CA,QC Current 2023 2025 $28.32 51,253,305 $1,451.5 81.64% 1.10 515
2025-11-19 CA,QC Advance 2028 2028 $29.61 6,847,750 $202.8 62.77% 1.65 953
2026-02-18 CA,QC Current 2024 2026 $27.94 54,975,757 $1,536.0 87.79% 1.04 547
2026-02-18 CA,QC Advance 2028 2028 $27.94 6,481,750 $181.1 69.85% 0.97 1195

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 For QC only auctions, the following conversions from CAD to USD were used: in 2013, 1 CAD = 0.97 USD; in 2014, 1 CAD = 0.91 USD

References

  1. ↑ "Washington Cap and Invest – Emissions Experts". Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  2. ↑ "Cap and Invest allowance prices – Washington Research Council". researchcouncil.org. Retrieved 2026-04-13.
  3. ↑ "Auction Notices and Reports | California Air Resources Board". ww2.arb.ca.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
  4. ↑ "Publications & Forms". apps.ecology.wa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
  5. ↑ "Auction Notices and Results - Carbon market". www.environnement.gouv.qc.ca. Retrieved 2026-04-11.