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Social Cost of Carbon

​The following table outlines the social cost of carbon utilities will use to comply with the package of clean energy legislation signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2019.

In Docket U-190730, the commission adopted cost estimates produced by the Interagency Working Group on Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases. The commission adjusted this rate to reflect 2021 dollars using the U.S. Dept. of Commerce GDP price index.

The social cost values for intermediate years (2031, 2032, etc.) will be calculated using the same method.

Adjusted Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Year

Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide*
(in 2007 dollars/metric ton)

** GDP Index
(in 2007 dollars/metric ton)

** GDP Index (2022 dollars/metric ton)  

Adjusted Social Cost of Carbon Dioxide*(using 2.5% discount rate in 2022 dollars)
2010 $50 92.498 127.23  $69
2015 $56 92.498 127.23  $77
2020 $62 92.498 127.23  $85
2025 $68 92.498 127.23  $94
2030 $73 92.498 127.23  $100
2035 $78 92.498 127.23  $107
2040 $84 92.498 127.23 $116
2045 $89 92.498 127.23 $122
2050 $95 92.498 127.23 $131

* Social cost of carbon dioxide in 2007 dollars using the 2.5 percent discount rate, listed in table 2, technical support document: Technical update of the social cost of carbon for regulatory impact analysis under Executive Order No.12866, published by the interagency working group on social cost of greenhouse gases of the United States government, August 2016.

**U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis Gross Domestic Product Table 1.1.4 Annual Price Indexes (Line 1), last revised May 25, 2023.