Published March 2016
The Essentials
- For our analysis of California’s 2011 Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), please see California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard: How will Arizona and the Southwest be affected?
- Under SB 350, named the “Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015,” California recently increased its RPS to 50 percent renewables by 2030 (up from 33 percent by 2020).
- California’s goal is more than double what will be needed to comply with the Clean Power Plan (21 percent by 2030).
- The RPS includes interim targets of 40 percent renewables by the end of 2024, 45 percent by the end of 2027, and 50 percent by the end of the 2030.
- SB 350 also requires demand-side energy efficiency savings for retail consumers of electricity and natural gas to double by 2030. The benchmark for this goal has yet to be determined.