In August 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. The Clean Power Plan builds on progress already under way to move the country toward a cleaner electricity system, including rapidly falling prices of renewables and increased deployment of money-saving energy efficiency measures. The Clean Power Plan makes use of the flexibility allowed by the Clean Air Act so that states can take advantage of several different measures to lower the carbon intensity of its power generation mix—such as fuel switching, dispatch of existing low-carbon power plants, increased generation by renewable sources, and energy efficiency.
This fact sheet series examines how different states can reduce CO2 emissions from their existing power plants by following through on their clean energy policies, like energy efficiency and renewable energy targets, and making better use of existing infrastructure, like fuller utilization of unused capacity at natural gas plants and increasing efficiency at existing coal plants. We show how these emission reductions stack up against the states’ targets under the Clean Power Plan and examine how states can use the Clean Power Plan to bring economic benefits to its residents and businesses while also maintaining grid reliability.