How Illinois Can Meet Its Clean Power Plan Targets

The document outlines four primary actions for Illinois to meet Clean Power Plan targets: removing spending caps on energy efficiency, ensuring renewable energy standard payments increase investment, increasing combined cycle natural gas plant usage to 75 percent, and adopting operational improvements at coal plants. By increasing the renewable energy standard to 35 percent by 2030 and targeting 20 percent cumulative energy savings by 2025, the state could reduce CO2 emissions by 76 percent below 2012 levels by 2030. The report also suggests a market-based carbon pricing program, which could generate over $300 million annually from out-of-state sources between 2022 and 2030 if allowances trade at $10 per short ton.

• Illinois can achieve its emission targets through four specific actions: removing the spending cap on energy efficiency standards, ensuring alternative compliance payments for retail electric suppliers increase renewable energy investment, raising the use of combined cycle natural gas plants to 75 percent (up from 18 percent in 2013), and implementing low-cost operational improvements at coal plants.
• By increasing the renewable energy standard to 35 percent of state sales by 2030 and targeting approximately 20 percent cumulative energy savings by the end of 2025, Illinois could reduce CO2 emissions by 76 percent relative to 2012 levels by 2030.
• Implementing a market-based carbon pricing program could allow Illinois to generate an average of more than $300 million per year in revenue from out-of-state sources between 2022 and 2030, assuming emission allowances are priced at $10 per short ton.
• Energy efficiency is identified as a highly cost-effective tool for emission reductions, with the state's efficiency standard estimated to save customers more than $1 billion annually by 2025.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). How Illinois Can Meet Its Clean Power Plan Targets. https://www.wri.org/research/how-illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets

Chicago

World Resources Institute. How Illinois Can Meet Its Clean Power Plan Targets. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/how-illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=How Illinois Can Meet Its Clean Power Plan Targets |url=https://www.wri.org/research/how-illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendhow, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{How Illinois Can Meet Its Clean Power Plan Targets}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/how-illinois-can-meet-its-clean-power-plan-targets}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }