13th Annual OPIS LCFS & Carbon Markets Workshop
January 14-16, 2025
The Hard Rock Hotel | San Diego, California
13th Annual OPIS LCFS & Carbon Markets Workshop
January 14-16, 2025
The Hard Rock Hotel | San Diego, California
Bridget Hunsucker, Director-Carbon Markets — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
California’s Cap-and-Trade Program is undergoing a monumental program update. Hear about the impacts of the potential amendments and how the program, more than a decade in, continues to support the state’s emissions reductions goals and what’s in store for the future.
Rajinder Sahota, Deputy Executive Officer-Climate Change & Research — California Air Resources Board (CARB)
Explore the latest developments in emerging and expanding carbon pricing mechanisms in North America, and the implications on the most recent elections on state and jurisdictional programs.
Clayton Munnings, Co-Founder and CEO — Elevate Climate
Richard Corey, West Coast Representative — IETA
With notable cap reductions pushed to 2026 by regulators, California Carbon Allowance markets will evolve in 2025 to adapt to new market fundamentals. Hear from panelists on continued CCA price impacts from the ongoing program review and the future impact on supply and demand.
Pawan Mehra, Co-founder and Managing Director — cKinetics
Jackie Ferlita, President-Emissions Desk — Air Quality Consultants
Jennifer McIsaac, Chief Market Intelligence Officer — ClearBlue Markets
Moderator: Kate Haerizadeh, Carbon Policy Analyst — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Fresh off a general election vote to maintain the program, it’s time to unpack what the cards hold for the Washington Carbon Allowance market in 2025 and its potential linkage to California and Quebec’s cap-and-trade program.
Mike Taylor, President — Emissions Experts Inc
Jon Costantino — Tradesman Advisors
Moderator: Kate Haerizadeh, Carbon Policy Analyst — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
After Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative secondary and auction clearing prices hit historic highs in 2024, this presentation will define what factors are driving the market and show expectations of the RGGI Program Review.
Justin Johnson, RGGI Representative — IETA
Anop Pandey, Sr. Manager, Market Analysis — ClearBlue Markets
Steve McComb, Treasurer of Environmental Markets Association & Managing Director of IncubEx
Moderator: Lee Ann Bryan, Carbon Policy Analyst — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Explore the emerging compliance carbon markets in New York, Maryland, and Vermont, with a focus on key policy developments, projected timelines, and the challenges ahead.
Lee Ann Bryan, Carbon Policy Analyst — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Across compliance and voluntary carbon markets (VCM), offsets are a tool in the corporate decarbonization toolkit. The VCM has faced significant headwinds since 2021, however work is underway to stabilize and offer a new way forward. Increasingly, compliance markets interleaf with the VCM – we’ll review how offsets have been leveraged in compliance markets to date, and outlooks for how national, subnational, and sector-based are evolving for offsets in the coming years.
Moderator: Utkarsh (Uti) Agarwal, Americas Carbon Originator — BP
Adam Schoenberg, Senior Director, Carbon Markets and Transactions — Conservation International
Leslie Durshinger, Founder & CEO — Terra Global Capital
Alicia Robinson, Co-Founder — Elevate Climate
2025 is poised as another year of high-level industry work regarding voluntary carbon credit labeling mechanisms and logistics, while regulatory programs like CORSIA Phase 1 will take center stage. This panel discussion will center on the top themes on experts’ minds and the takeaways to unpack what’s ahead for credit prices and investments
Moderator: Stephen Donofrio, Head of Carbon Markets Intelligence — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Marc Garfinkle, Head of Portfolio Management — Rubicon Carbon
Teresa Lang, Senior Policy Director — Anew Climate
Ryo Tateishi, Associate Director-Business Development — Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas)
Jordan Godwin, Director of Renewable Fuels — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Whether you’re a newcomer to the industry or a seasoned veteran, this 101-style refresher course on the ins and outs of compliance under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is essential. With California expected to implement LCFS amendments, this annual overview is especially important this time around.
Nathalie Hoffman, Managing Director-Energy Compliance Services — Weaver
Hear from California Air Resources Board (CARB) leadership on program updates the staff has been working on, as well as a possible look ahead at what the agency has in store for the LCFS. Attendees will also have a chance at what could be a very useful question-and-answer portion to follow CARB’s remarks.
Matt Botill, Industrial Strategies Division Chief — California Air Resources Board (CARB)
Similar to our annual RFS Roundtable at our OPIS RFS, RINs & Biofuels Forum, treat yourself to an engaging dialogue between industry representatives with varying perspectives on LCFS policy. We’ll hit a lot of high-level talking points, including the amendment process, short-term and long-term challenges and a wide variety of other pressing topics.
Robin Vercruse, Executive Director — Low Carbon Fuels Coalition
Sam Wade, Director of Public Policy — RNG Coalition
Mary Solecki, Partner — AJW
Cory-Ann Wind, Director of State Regulatory Affairs — Clean Fuels Alliance America
The runaway LCFS credit bank has had a hockey stick trajectory in recent years — what will it take to get the program back on track? We’ll take a closer look at credit generation in recent years and discuss how the amendments and step-change compliance targets could impact the bloated LCFS credit bank.
Moderator: Stephen Donofrio, Head of Carbon Markets Intelligence — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Philip Sheehy, Director of Transportation & Energy — ICF
Colin Murphy, Deputy Director — UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy
Arpit Soni, Associate Director — cCarbon (Division of cKinetics)
Take a deep dive into LCFS credit pricing trends and what we can expect from values in the year(s) ahead. LCFS prices were stuck near multiyear lows for much of 2024, but is there an imminent path for a price recovery in 2025 or will it take longer to clear the credit bank and bring back robust incentives for low-carbon fuels?
Andy Lipow, President — Lipow Oil Associates
Megan Boutwell, President — Stillwater Associates
Rodolphe Tribolet, Trader — Mercuria
Renewable diesel has enveloped traditional diesel demand in California in recent years, with much of its success due to the LCFS program. Can SAF eventually achieve similar results? We’ll discuss current production capacity, blend levels, feedstock availability as well as the proposed 20% cap on crop-based feedstocks for biomass-based diesel.
Sean Newsum, Managing Director, Environmental Affairs — Airlines for America
Greg Staiti, Compliance Director — Calumet, Montana Renewables
Josh Bledsoe, Partner — Latham & Watkins
The RNG industry has continued its strong growth trajectory, but are there policy obstacles on the horizon that could hamper the market’s growth? We’ll take a closer look at how the latest LCFS amendments could affect RNG markets in California, as well as emerging opportunities in other states and jurisdictions.
Sam Wade, Director of Public Policy — RNG Coalition
Todd Campbell, Vice President, Public Policy & Regulatory Affairs — Clean Energy Fuels
Andy Kriha, Decarbonization Strategy Associate — Holland & Knight
California and other jurisdictions have ramped up policy activity in favor of electrifying the transportation fleet, but results have varied. Our panel will discuss what’s working and what’s needed to meet California’s ambitious targets around EVs. We’ll also take a look at how the latest amendments will impact credit generation for EV infrastructure and electric forklifts.
Khalid Rustom, General Manager, Smart Rebates Program — Smart Charging Technologies
Joel Levin, Executive Director — Plug-In America
Ryan Ruikka, Energy Analyst — The ProExporter Network
Ethanol and biodiesel producers have shown an ability to embrace – and enhance – the carbon reductions their fuels can provide, but what’s needed to ensure market share in the years to come? We’ll discuss how these fuels can continue to thrive in an increasingly stringent compliance market.
Curtis Powers, Team Lead, Sustainability Compliance — Chevron Renewable Energy Group
Matt Herman, Chief Office, Advocacy and Demand — Iowa Soybean Association
Jeff Wilkerson, Government Policy & Regulatory Affairs Manager — Pearson Fuels
Many refiners have had an interesting journey through LCFS compliance since the program’s inception, with many now becoming major credit generators through new production of low-carbon fuels. Hear from one major refiner about how they got here and what they’re working on to continue decarbonization efforts.
Jennifer Haley, Chief Executive Officer and President — Kern Energy
With Canada’s first year of compliance under the nationwide Clean Fuel Standard under its belt, our speakers will discuss how things have gone so far as well as what we can expect in the coming year. We’ll also take a look at the latest in British Columbia’s LCFS program.
Ian Thomson, President — Advanced Biofuels Canada
Michael Rensing, Energy Compliance Services — Weaver
David Schick, VP, Western Canada, Innovation and Regulatory Affairs — Canadian Fuels Association
Hear from regulators overseeing Washington’s Clean Fuel Standard and Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program about how things are going and what to look for in the year ahead.
Moderator: Stephen Donofrio, Head of Carbon Markets Intelligence — OPIS, A Dow Jones Company
Bill Peters, Clean Fuels Program Manager — Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
Abbey Brown, Technical Lead — Washington Department of Ecology