Natural gas price surges in the region this winter have led the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to order utilities to issue customers’ annual California Climate Credit (CCC) early.

Since the passage of California’s Assembly Bill 26, aka the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, most residents receive a CCC on natural gas bills in April and a CCC on electricity bills in April and October. 

NGI Senior Energy Analyst Josten Mavez explained that part of the funding for the CCC comes from the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) cap-and-trade program, which is a “market-based emissions program” that sets a “limit on emissions for companies or power plants – anyone who emits greenhouse gasses,” Mavez said. Participants are then able to “buy and sell...