Illinois Can Meet its Clean Power Plan Targets in 3 Steps

Illinois can achieve 75% of its Clean Power Plan target by following existing clean energy policies and improving fossil plant efficiency, and can exceed the target by expanding efficiency and renewable standards.

• Under the Clean Power Plan, Illinois is required to lower its power sector emissions by 34-35 percent relative to 2012 levels by the year 2030.
• Illinois can reach 27 percent of its emissions reduction target below 2012 levels by 2030—representing over 75 percent of its total goal—by combining the full implementation of current clean energy standards with the more efficient use of existing fossil plants, specifically by running natural gas combined cycle plants at 75 percent capacity and applying low-cost operational improvements.
• Illinois could reduce CO2 emissions by 76 percent below 2012 levels by 2030 if it removes spending caps on efficiency programs, increases the efficiency target to 20 percent cumulative savings by 2025, and raises the renewable energy standard to 35 percent of sales by 2030.
• The transition to a low-carbon power sector offers significant economic benefits: the energy efficiency standard is estimated to save customers between $500 million and $1 billion annually by 2025, the Illinois Energy Now program created over 17,000 jobs between 2008 and 2014, and the 23 largest wind farms are expected to generate nearly $6 billion in economic benefit.
• If Illinois exceeds its emissions targets, it could potentially earn an average of over $300 million per year between 2022 and 2030 by selling unused emissions allowances to other states, based on a price of $10 per ton.

APA

Igusky, K. (2016). Illinois Can Meet its Clean Power Plan Targets in 3 Steps. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets-3-steps

Chicago

Igusky, Kristin. Illinois Can Meet its Clean Power Plan Targets in 3 Steps. World Resources Institute, 2016. https://www.wri.org/insights/illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets-3-steps.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Igusky |first1=Kristin |title=Illinois Can Meet its Clean Power Plan Targets in 3 Steps |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=28 April 2016 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets-3-steps |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{igusky2016illinois, author = {Igusky, Kristin}, title = {{Illinois Can Meet its Clean Power Plan Targets in 3 Steps}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2016}, month = apr, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets-3-steps}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }