Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Colorado

WRI analysis indicates that Colorado can reduce its power sector CO2 emissions by 29 percent below 2011 levels by 2020 using existing policies and infrastructure. This would meet or exceed moderately ambitious EPA standards, which WRI estimates would require reductions between 28 and 37 percent. Key opportunities include meeting renewable energy and energy efficiency targets, increasing the use of combined heat and power (CHP), maximizing the capacity of natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plants, and improving coal plant efficiency.

• Colorado has the potential to reduce its CO2 emissions by 29 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, which would meet or exceed moderately ambitious EPA power plant emissions standards. WRI's hypothetical scenarios suggest EPA standards would require reductions between 28 and 37 percent below 2011 levels by 2020.
• Existing policy targets can drive significant reductions: meeting the state's renewable energy standard (which requires 30 percent for investor-owned utilities, 20 percent for large cooperatives, and 10 percent for smaller cooperatives and large municipalities) could reduce emissions by 7 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, while meeting energy efficiency standards could provide a further 5 percent reduction.
• Infrastructure-based opportunities include running existing natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plants at 75 percent capacity to reduce emissions by 15 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, increasing combined heat and power (CHP) use by 30 percent to reduce emissions by 2 percent, and increasing coal plant efficiency by 2.5 percent to reduce emissions by 1 percent.
• To prepare for more stringent EPA standards, Colorado could cost-effectively expand its energy efficiency standard to achieve annual energy savings of 2 percent per year across all utilities.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Colorado. https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-colorado

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Colorado. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-colorado.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Colorado |url=https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-colorado |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendpower, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Power Sector Opportunities for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Colorado}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-colorado}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }