Download California’s renewable electricity PDF
Renewable Mandate Status: Not on Track
- 2009 Estimated Qualified Renewables: 13%[i]
- 2010 Mandate: 20%
- 2020 Mandate: 33%
Current Renewable Electricity Mandate: 20% of electricity generated by 2010[ii] and 33% of electricity generated by 2020.[iii]
Eligible Resources: solar thermal, wind, certain biomass, geothermal, certain hydroelectric, ocean wave, thermal and tidal, fuel cells using renewable fuels, landfill gas, and municipal solid waste conversion.[iv]
Renewable Portfolio History: RPS originally established in 2002 requiring investor-owned electric utilities to reach 20% renewable retail sales by 2010. On September 15, 2009, the Governor signed Executive Order S-21-09 increasing the requirement to 33% by 2020 (applicable to all utilities). This order also shifted responsibility from the California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission to the California Air Resources Board. The Public Utilities Commission decided in March 2010 to authorize tradable renewable energy credits but placed a moratorium on tradable renewable energy certificate transactions in May 2010.[v]
Credit Trading: Under consideration
Noncompliance penalty: 5 cents/kWh with a maximum penalty cap of $25 million per utility per year.[vi]
Electricity Price Ranking: 9th Highest[vii]
- 13.22 cents/KWh for California
- 7.67 cents/KWh for non-mandated states
[i] Energy Information Administration, Electricity Generation 2009, http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/ generation_state_mon.xls. This amount is renewables excluding hydroelectric.
[ii] Cal. Public Utilities Code §399.11 (Jan., 1 2003), http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=puc& group=00001-01000&file=399.11-399.20.
[iii] Cal. Exec. Order No. S-21-09 (Sept. 15, 2009), http://gov.ca.gov/executive-order/13269.
[iv] Cal. Public Resources Code §25740-25751, http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=prc&group =25001-26000&file=25740-25751.
[v] Database of state Incentive for Renewables and Efficiency, California, http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=CA25R&re=1&ee=1.
[vi] California Public Utilities Commission, Order Instituting Rulemaking to Establish Policies and Cost Recovery Mechanisms for Generation Procurement and Renewable Resource Development, http://162.15.7.24/PUBLISHED/FINAL_DECISION/79039.htm.
[vii] EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B., Average Retail Price of Electricity, June 2010, Released Sept. 15, 2010, http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_b.html.
