The program prompted 14,200 new jobs and cut consumers' electric and heating bills $460 million, the consultants found.
Amid complaints that planned federal rules to cut carbon emissions will hurt the economy, a new study says the northeastern states that already have moved in that direction are seeing economic benefits.
The study by a Boston-based consulting firm, the Analysis Group, will be presented in New York Tuesday at the summer meeting of a national group of state utility regulators. It found that the nine states combined saw $1.3 billion in economic value from the carbon-cutting program from 2012 to 2014.
The program prompted 14,200 new jobs and cut consumers' electric and heating bills $460 million, the consultants found.
The study's release comes at a time when states across the country are looking for ways to respond to new rules expected out next month from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency is calling for a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions from power plants by 2030.
