Platts launches additional California Carbon Offset assessment, updates name and specifications for existing CCO Current Month assessment, June 1

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, has launched an additional price assessment for California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) with Direct Environmental Benefits in the State (DEBS), effective June 1, 2026.

Platts recognizes the importance of differentiating between CCOs with the DEBS attribution attached and its relevance to compliance obligations. Compliance entities may use up to 6% of compliance offset credits to fulfill their compliance obligations for emissions from 2026-2030. Half of the offset credit use limit must have the DEBS attribution.

This launch follows a proposal published on Feb. 20 and a decision note published March 13.

The Platts CCO DEBS assessment has the following specifications:

Platts has also updated the Platts CCO assessment name from CCO Current Month Current Year Vintage. The volume specification has also been updated from 1,000-10,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent to 5,000- 50,000 mtCO2e to better reflect typical spot-market trading volumes. Platts has changed the delivery period from the current month to the spot market three to five days forward.

As of June 1, the updated specifications for the assessment are as follows:

The new and updated symbols and symbol descriptions are as follows:

Platts considers all bids, offers, trades and indications received in both the over-the-counter and exchange markets for assessment purposes.

The Platts CCO and Platts CCO DEBS assessments are available in Carbon Markets Daily, Megawatt Daily, and Energy Trader, as well as fixed pages PEA0754, AGP2754, CMA2021, ETA2021 and EVA3006.

Details regarding the methodology for Platts Carbon assessments can be found here.

Please send all comments, feedback, and questions to platts_carbon@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

For written comments, please indicate clearly if your comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.