Washington’s Cap-and-Trade Exemptions Legal, Ninth Circuit Says

Washington state’s decision to give its utilities no-cost allowances under the state’s cap-and-invest program doesn’t discriminate against interstate commerce or impose a burden on that commerce, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

The ruling, which affirmed a 2023 lower court finding, hinged on the idea that electric utilities and independent power plant owners, such as the plaintiffs in this case, are not “similarly situated,” according to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s unpublished decision.

“The fact that Appellants may have to alter their operations to either pay for allowances to offset their carbon emissions or reduce their ...