Renewable Energy Supplies
The California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), established in 2002 under Senate Bill 1078 and accelerated in 2006 under Senate Bill 107, requires electric corporations to increase their purchase of energy from renewable sources by at least 1 percent of their retail sales annually, with the mandate to purchase at least 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010 (later extended until 2013).
A 2008 Executive Order signed by Governor Schwarzenegger increased those requirements to 33 percent by 2020. In 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed a law codifying this requirement that all California utilities get 33% of the electricity they sell from renewable sources by the year 2020.
It is important to note that only energy procured from eligible renewable energy resources is applicable toward this goal. Eligible sources include wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and small hydroelectric power plants (20 MW or less). Large hydroelectric power such as that produced by California's numerous dams, is not considered an eligible resource.
In order to meet California's aggressive renewable energy mandates, utilities within the state will need a mix of both smaller scale local renewable power such as rooftop solar and local biomass and larger scale remote renewable resources such as solar, wind and geothermal power projects. Although these local resources can often be developed with minimal impact to the state's electric grid, the development of large-scale renewable resources will require upgrading of the state's transmission infrastructure to reach remote areas that are not currently accessed by the bulk transmission system. Development of transmission facilities to these remote regions will allow the state to access large scale renewable projects.
In 2010, the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) completed its Phase 2A report identifying the viable sources of eligible renewable energy supplies within California.
Additionally, renewable resources have been identified in the Pacific Northwest, Nevada and Arizona that could be accessed and utilized in California. This map illustrates the renewable potential of the western United States.
More information about California's greenhouse gas emissions goals and the role of electricity production in greenhouse gas emissions can be found on the Climate Change page.
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