West

California

California has long been a leader in climate and environmental justice policy and is one of the world’s largest economies. Despite ambitious climate policies, including an emissions reduction target of 85% below 1990 levels by 2045, emissions decreased only 7% from 1990-2021. Around half of in-state electricity is generated from renewables, and the state is the nation’s top producer of electricity from solar and geothermal resources. The state ranks 7th in the country for crude oil production, although both crude oil and natural gas production are steadily declining.

GHG Reduction Targets

All targets relative to 2005 levels

2030 :

40%

2045 :

85%

2045 :

Carbon neutral

Governor

Gavin Newsom (Democrat)

House Party

Democratic Supermajority

Senate Party

Democratic Supermajority

Legislative session

1/3/24 - 8/31/24

US Climate Alliance Status

Member

Key Offices & Links

47

Policies Enacted or In Progress

across 7 policy areas

See all

15

Policy Opportunities

across 4 policy areas

See all

West

11 states

This map shows the occurrence of climate policies passed at the state-level. Higher numbers represent more climate policies enacted.

Compare with other states

Progress by Policy Area

Enacted
In-progress
Partially Enacted
Not Enacted

Glossary of Terms

Status	Policy	Policy Area	Policy Category	YR Enacted
Enacted	Clean Energy and Renewable Portfolio Standards Empty column 60% renewable electricity by 2030 \| 90% by 2035 \| 95% by 2040 \| 100% by 2045 Establishing Policies SB 100 (2018) SB 1020 (2022)	Electricity	Energy Plans and Targets	2022
Enacted	Electricity Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Targets Empty column 38 million metric tons (MMT) reduction by 2030 \| 35 MMT by 2032 Establishing Policies R.20-05-003 (2022)	Electricity	Energy Plans and Targets	2022
Enacted	Clean Energy Plans Empty column Achieving 100 Percent Clean Electricity in California Establishing Policies SB 100 (2018) Achieving 100 Percent Clean Electricity in California (2021)	Electricity	Energy Plans and Targets	2021
Not Enacted	Distributed Generation/Solar Carve-out Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Distributed Generation/Solar Carve-out in California Policy Components not-enacted not-enacted not-enacted not-enacted not-enacted 0/5	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted	Net Metering Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Net Metering in California SPOT - Aggregate Net Metering in California Policy Components enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted enacted not-enacted 10/11	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Partially Enacted	Shared Renewables Empty column The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled. Establishing Policies SPOT - Shared Renewables in California Policy Components enacted enacted enacted not-enacted not-enacted enacted 4/6	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation
Enacted	Community Choice Aggregation Empty column California has an active community choice aggregation program. Establishing Policies AB 117 (2002) SB 790 (2011)	Electricity	Clean Energy Generation	2002
Enacted	Energy Storage Targets Empty column 1,385 megawatts (MW) of storage by 2020, of which 500 MW must be distributed storage, and 15 gigawatts (GW) of storage and demand response by 2032 Establishing Policies AB 2514 (2010) AB 2868 (2016) R.20-05-003 (2021)	Electricity	Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage	2021
Enacted	Interconnection Standards Empty column California received a B grade from Freeing the Grid. Establishing Policies Freeing the Grid California Grade (2023)	Electricity	Transmission, Distribution, and Energy Storage	2023
Not Enacted	Coal Phaseouts Empty column Coal phaseouts establish a target year by which states must end coal-fired power generation.	Electricity	Coal Retirement
Not Enacted	Coal Plant Securitization Empty column Coal securitization is a financing tool that allows utility companies to refinance debt they issued to build coal plants and close the facilities early without taking a financial hit or passing costs on to ratepayers.	Electricity	Coal Retirement

California

Key Offices & Links

47

15

West

Progress by Policy Area

Climate Governance and Equity

Cross-Sector

Electricity

Buildings and Efficiency

Transportation

Industry, Materials, and Waste Management

Natural and Working Lands

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections in California