WRI的情况说明书系列，How States Can Meet Their Clean Power Plan Targets，研究各州在清洁能源计划下达到甚至超过其标准的方式，同时最大程度地减少合规成本，确保可靠性和利用经济机会。这篇文章在该系列的第五个州伊利诺伊州探索了这些机会。

While the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted implementation of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) while the courts consider legal challenges, it’s in states’ own best interests to continue moving forward with renewable energy and efficiency. Illinois is no exception.

在CPP下，到2030年，伊利诺伊州必须将其电力部门的排放量降低34-35％。新的WRI分析表明，该州现有的清洁能源政策和更好地利用现有发电厂的机会可以减少二氧化碳碳排放量，到2030年，低于2012年水平的27％，使其超过75％的目标。并获得其余的方式，既可以实现又具有成本效益。

Achieving Illinois’s CPP Target

Illinois’s power plants have reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 3 percent between 2005 and 2012, mostly by using more natural gas and renewables and less coal. However, demand for electricity is expected to grow, with power sector emissions projected to increase by 10 percent between 2012 and 2030.

The good news is that Illinois can take three steps to decrease its emissions to meet or exceed its CPP targets:

  1. 尽管目前的障碍，但仍遵循现有的清洁能源政策。Under the state’s existing efficiency standard, utilities were required to implement programs that help customers reduce energy use by 0.2 percent annually starting in 2008, ramping up to 2 percent annually by 2015. However, these savings are subject to a spending cap, and utilities were recently authorized to achieve an average 1.4 percent of their previous year’s sales as opposed to the 2 percent standard. Illinois has a renewable energy standard in place requiring 25 percent of the electricity sold by its investor-owned utilities to come from renewables by 2025. Other electric suppliers in the state must meet half of the requirement by paying fees, which are supposed to go toward purchasing renewable energy or credits, but this is not occurring. If the state’s utilities meet the current clean energy standards, Illinois can reduce its emissions by 18 percent below 2012 levels by 2030.

  2. 更有效地使用现有的化石植物。天然气联合循环植物在2013年的能力下运行18％，远低于其能力。除了实施低成本的运营改进和最佳实践（例如运营和维护改进）外，运行现有的合并循环植物以75％的速度运行；更换破旧的密封和阀门；清洁设备 - 将使伊利诺伊州到2030年将其排放量降低27％（除了步骤1，上面）。

  3. 扩展其清洁能源政策并消除当前障碍。Illinois could meet or exceed its emissions targets by adjusting or removing the spending cap on efficiency programs while increasing its existing efficiency target to achieve about 20 percent cumulative energy savings by the end of 2025 and increasing the state’s renewable energy standard to 35 percent of the state’s sales by 2030. Doing so would cut CO2 emissions by 76 percent below 2012 levels by 2030.

CPP的经济利益

These reductions are also cost-effective. Consider the following:

  • The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that the Illinois energy efficiency standard will save customers $500 million per year starting in 2015, ramping up to over $1 billion per year in 2025.
  • The state’s Illinois Energy Now program—which is available to public facilities and low-income entities located within the Ameren and ComEd electrical service areas—created more than 17,000 jobs between 2008–14, leading to $585 million in energy cost savings over the lifetime of the efficient equipment installed.
  • 伊利诺伊州立大学可再生能源中心发现该州23个最大的风电场（总计3,335兆瓦的产能）将在建设期间和该项目的25年运营生活期间产生近60亿美元的经济利益。
  • 如果伊利诺伊州使用上述三个步骤超过其CPP排放量的目标，则可以将其未使用的排放津贴出售给其他州。在2022年至2030年之间，这些销售量每年的平均值可能会产生超过3亿美元（假设每吨津贴价格为10美元）。

建立伊利诺伊州的进步

即使在CPP上停留，伊利诺伊州也有充分的理由将其过渡到低碳电力部门。通过扩大其清洁能源政策并解决当前的障碍，伊利诺伊州将使EPA能够继续调节发电厂的碳污染，这将使自己处于领先地位。同时，该州将能够从这些政策中扩大收益，减少投资其他州的权力部门的需求，并更具成本效益地减少碳排放量。