Climate Change

In 2000, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California totaled 449 million metric tons, up 13 percent from 1990 levels. One million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are roughly equal to emissions from 200,000 cars in an average year. "Business as usual" estimates suggest California could emit as much as 510 million metric tons by 2020.

AB 32, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, requires that GHG emissions be lowered to 1990 levels by 2020, a reduction of approximately 114 million metric tons from "business as usual" projections.

As of 2008, California's electricity sector was the second largest generator of GHG emissions, contributing 25 percent of the state's total from both in-state and imported electricity generation and transmission. Out-of-state electricity generation sources contribute 39 to 57 percent of GHG emissions associated with electricity consumption in California. This is largely due to the generation mix in the Southwest, which is heavily coal dependent, rather than electricity from the Northwest, which has an abundance of hydroelectric resources. The California Air Resources Board Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan envisions meeting at least 40% of California's total GHG reductions through cleaner electric generation.

According to the CPUC, currently about 15 percent of California's energy is generated from renewable energy sources. The requirement of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) is to have at least 20 percent come from these sources by 2013, and 33 percent come from these sources by 2020. According to the California Energy Commission, "inadequate transmission infrastructure" needed to connect remotely-located renewable resources is one of the top five barriers to achieving the state's RPS and GHG emission reduction goals.

Aging Transmission Infrastructure
State and Federal Policies
Renewable Energy Supplies
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