A new report from the California Public Utilities Commission has concluded that the state’s major utilities have already met or will all soon exceed the state’s 2020 renewable energy target of 33%, and will likely meet the 2030 target of 50% by 2020.
California is well-known as a world leader in clean energy technology deployment, but the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) annual Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) report published earlier this month shows that the state’s utilities are well ahead of the RPS targets — specifically, to source 33% of retail sales per year from eligible renewable energy sources by 2020 and 50% by 2030.
As can be seen below, California’s investor-owned utilities have already surpassed their interim targets and, according to the CPUC, “have sufficient resources under development to exceed the 33% by 2020 RPS requirement.”
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company: 32.9%
- Southern California Edison: 28.2%
- San Diego Gas & Electric: 43.2%
On top of the fast pace of renewable energy deployment, California’s RPS program has similarly helped reduce the cost of renewable electricity, with the price of utility solar contracts between 2008 and 2016 falling by 77%, while the price of wind contracts between 2007 and 2015 fell by 47%.
Further, the CPUC predicts that, on aggregate, California’s utilities will meet its 2030 RPS requirements of 50% by 2020.
“There is no greater time than now to fight climate change, and California is leading the way,” said CPUC Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen, who is assigned to oversee the CPUC’s RPS proceeding. “Our utilities are exceeding the goals we put in place for them. Costs have continued to decline, and reliability has not been compromised in any way. California’s successful program offers lessons for other states interested in advancing clean energy policies.”
The smaller Community Choice Aggregators (CA) and the small and multi-jurisdictional utilities (SMJU) all report compliance with current RPS requirements and are on track to meet their 2020 targets, but more work will need to be done to meet post-2020 targets.
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