California’s Race to 100% Clean Energy

California’s Race to 100% Clean Energy

California has long served as the nation’s policy laboratory for climate action, and Senate Bill 100 (“SB 100”) stands as one of its most ambitious experiments. Enacted in 2018, SB 100 commits the state to run entirely on carbon-free electricity by 2045, with an interim milestone of 60% renewable energy by 2030. By turning aspiration into enforceable targets, the law redefined accountability—requiring utilities, regulators, and large energy users to measure progress not in rhetoric, but in megawatts.

Turning Ambition Into Measurable Action

California’s progress toward these benchmarks is already tangible. In 2022, renewable energy supplied nearly 35% of the state’s electricity, and when large hydroelectric and nuclear power are included, roughly 59% of California’s grid was carbon-free. New solar, wind, and energy storage projects are coming online at a record pace, and analysts predict that the 2030 target may be met—or even surpassed—if current trends continue.

These milestones are more than statistics. They illustrate a foundational shift in how California produces and consumes energy: from reliance on fossil fuels to a system increasingly shaped by technology, market design, and environmental law. They also reveal the importance of consistent policy frameworks that give developers and investors confidence to plan decades into the future.

The Technical and Legal Hurdles of a Renewable Grid

Still, the transformation of the grid is as much a technical challenge as a legal one. Renewable energy, by its nature, is intermittent—solar peaks during midday hours, while demand surges after sunset. This “duck curve” has become the defining puzzle of California’s energy transition.

Solving it requires both engineering and governance: large-scale battery storage, flexible demand-response programs, and new rules for how utilities procure and dispatch energy. Transmission capacity presents another bottleneck. Much of the state’s solar and wind potential lies in remote desert and mountain regions, requiring new transmission corridors to deliver power to urban centers. Each new line, however, triggers layers of permitting, environmental review, and public consultation—processes essential to transparency but often slow in pace.

For energy lawyers and policymakers, this intersection between infrastructure development and environmental regulation underscores a familiar tension: how to streamline clean energy deployment without undermining the environmental safeguards that define California’s regulatory identity.

Economic and Equity Dimensions

SB 100 is more than an environmental mandate; it’s an economic blueprint. Utilities must plan for long-term reliability and manage cost impacts as renewables expand. Businesses in construction, manufacturing, and energy storage are positioning themselves to supply the materials and technologies driving the clean energy build-out.

At the same time, the state’s approach to implementation reflects growing awareness of energy equity. Policymakers are increasingly focused on ensuring that disadvantaged communities—often located near fossil-fuel infrastructure—share in the benefits of cleaner air and new employment opportunities, rather than bearing the brunt of siting and cost burdens. Achieving a just transition requires integrating equity assessments into planning and permitting processes—another layer of accountability that will shape how SB 100 unfolds.

Federal Headwinds and State Resolve

Federal policy shifts have tested California’s determination but not its direction. The Trump administration’s rollback of vehicle emissions waivers and reductions in federal renewable energy incentives introduced headwinds for state efforts, yet did not alter the legal mandates of SB 100. California responded with legal challenges, targeted incentives, and permitting reforms designed to keep projects moving.

This dynamic illustrates a broader truth about environmental governance: leadership often requires persistence in the face of policy reversals. California’s legal framework for climate action—rooted in statutes like the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) and the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act (SB 350)—has proven resilient because it embeds climate goals across multiple agencies and sectors, insulating long-term commitments from short-term political shifts.

A Model for Measurable Climate Action

California’s path toward 100% clean electricity is not a straight line, but its trajectory remains unmistakable. By pairing statutory deadlines with regulatory oversight and transparent data, SB 100 turns climate ambition into measurable governance.

For businesses, municipalities, and energy developers, the lesson is clear: proactive engagement—through investment in energy efficiency, renewable generation, and storage—positions them to succeed in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. For policymakers and the public, SB 100 demonstrates that ambitious climate policy can be both legally durable and practically achievable.

The race to 100% clean electricity is not just a technological endeavor—it is a test of law’s ability to guide systemic transformation. California’s progress suggests that when vision is codified into statute and backed by institutional will, even the most complex energy transitions can move from aspiration to reality.