California Hits 'Historic' Energy Milestone

Newsweek

15-07-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
New data shared by the Californian government shows that the state has supplied 100 percent of its electricity demand with clean energy sources for an average of seven hours a day so far this year.
More than nine out of 10 days in 2025 saw the state's power being run on completely clean energy sources for an extended period of time in the day—representing a 750 percent increase in clean energy days since 2022.
Newsweek has contacted the California Energy Commission for comment via email outside regular working hours.
Why It Matters
The data signifies a major milestone in California's clean energy deliveries, marking it as the largest economy in the world to achieve this level of clean energy, according to the state government. The success of the state, the world's fourth largest economy, also holds weight for national and international energy policy.
Clean energy includes renewable resources—such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass—and large hydroelectric power and nuclear energy. California's goal is to have 100 percent of its retail electricity sales and state agency loads supplied with clean energy by 2045.
For years, the Golden State has led in climate action and clean energy adoption, but the present milestone shows the operational reliability of renewable energy at a new level.
Power lines and wind turbines in the desert landscape on the outskirts of Palm Springs, California.
Power lines and wind turbines in the desert landscape on the outskirts of Palm Springs, California.
Pamela Hassell/AP
What To Know
Alongside this year's achievements, the data showed that in 2023, 67 percent of the state's retail electricity sales came from renewable and zero-carbon electricity generation, compared to 61 percent the previous year and about 41 percent a decade ago.
Additionally, in 2024, the state added a record-breaking 7,000 megawatts of clean capacity to the grid, marking the largest single-year increase in clean energy capacity added to the grid in state history.
The state has stood out for its energy efficiency. About one in nine U.S. residents live in California, meaning it uses more energy than any other state except Texas. California's energy policies have made its per capita energy use the third lowest in the nation, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported.
California's success in its clean energy policies is largely down to "the growth in batteries, solar, and wind in the state combined with the decrease in gas," Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, told Newsweek.
Despite California's growing expansion of clean energy use, Texas still leads the way on producing the most electricity from renewable energy sources—leaving the Golden State in second place.
California's main proponents of clean energy are solar and battery storage. Since 2019, 25,000 megawatts of new energy resources statewide have been added to the grid, remaining on track to hit the state's 2045 goals, the state government reported.
As a result of the state's push toward being fully reliant on clean energy sources, greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 20 percent since 2000, and emissions from electric power have been cut in half since 2009. At the same time, the state's GDP has increased 78 percent.
What People Are Saying
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a news release on Monday: "As the federal government turns its back on innovation and commonsense, California is making our clean energy future a reality. The world's fourth largest economy is running on two-thirds clean power—the largest economy on the planet to achieve this milestone. And for the first time ever, clean energy provided 100 percent of the state's power nearly every day this year for some part of the day. Not since the Industrial Revolution have we seen this kind of rapid transformation."
Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former senior advisor for energy and innovation at the U.S. Agency for International Development, told Newsweek: "Not only is California the fourth largest economy on the planet, but the state has exported clean energy to neighboring states and Canadian provinces for over 110 days in a row. What this milestone demonstrates is that by investing in clean energy generation and energy storage, economies large and small can be powered with clean energy at costs below fossil fuel generation. The fact that it is now cheaper to build a new clean energy power plant than to simply operate an existing fossil fuel plant has contributed greatly to this evolution."
He added: "Research in my laboratory has documented that more jobs are created in the clean energy economy than in the fossil, dirty energy economy as well, which has further spurred this evolution. The lower costs, higher job creation, and with energy policy and planning landscape that integrates clean energy generation and energy storage, it shows that everyone everywhere can make this transition with energy, economic, climate, and social justice benefits."
Daniel Nocera, a professor of energy at Harvard University, told Newsweek: "The issue of clean energy comes down to one factor at the end of the day—plain and simple—economics. I do not care what side of the fence you sit with regard to clean energy. If there is not a cost benefit, it is a nonstarter. The significance of clean energy in California is that this state has one of the, if not the, most vibrant economies in the nation. To do so with these achievements in clean energy proves that a vibrant economy may be maintained and grown with the adoption of clean energy. Clean energy is a profitable investment that leads to wealth generation and a vibrant economy."
He added: "Some states do not have the access to clean energy resources that California does. What is important is that states will make wise decisions, with the clean energy resources that they possess, to advance their economies and job creation. It is inevitable in my opinion that all will come to finally realize that a commitment to clean energy will be an economic creation win, whatever that milestone is for a given state."
Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, told Newsweek: "This achievement shows it is possible to have a clean and renewable grid while maintaining grid stability. Some will say that this achievement is at the expense of high cost of electricity in California. However, California's high electricity cost has nothing to do with renewables. Instead, renewables have prevented costs from being even higher. We know this because California is ranked only No. 12 in terms of the percent of demand met by wind-water-solar (WWS) renewables in the annual average. There are 11 states that, from Q2-2024 to Q1-2025, had 50 to 121 percent of their demand met by WWS, starting with South Dakota (121 percent WWS, 89 percent wind, 30 percent hydro, and 2.7 percent solar). Of those 11 states, 10 had electricity prices at least 1.9 cents/kWh below the national average."
He added: "The reason for California's high electricity prices is that utilities have passed onto customers the cost of wildfires caused by transmission line sparks, the costs of the San Bruno and Aliso Canyon gas disasters, the costs of undergrounding gas lines due to San Bruno, the cost of undergrounding transmission lines due to the fires, the high cost of fossil gas in California, the cost of keeping Diablo Canyon nuclear open, and the cost of upgrading transmission lines."
California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild said in a news release: "California has achieved yet another major milestone on our journey to a clean energy future. The latest numbers show how our state is demonstrating that clean energy is mainstream and is here to stay."
California Public Utilities Commission President Alice Reynolds said in a news release: "California has set ambitious clean energy goals, and utilities and community choice aggregators have stepped up to deliver clean resources at competitive prices to communities up and down the state. We are bringing renewable energy online at an unprecedented scale and pace never seen before."
What Happens Next
California officials have reaffirmed their commitment to a fully carbon-free electric grid by 2045.