Critic: permit plan could send electric rates soaring
  A new state requirement that power generators buy permits to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere could result in rates hikes as high as 9 percent for consumers, a foe of the plan said today.
Chris LaRoe of the Independent Power Producers said a mock auction conducted by the Department of Environmental Conservation earlier this year priced the permits at $8, which he said would translate into a 9 percent rate hike.
But the DEC said today the cost hikes will be “negligible: ‘’ 1.6 percent, or 78 cents a month for a typical customer, in 2015 and 2.4 percent ($1.13 per month) in 2015.
A state panel yesterday approved the permit system in an attempt to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions – the main culprit in global warming.
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