California prides itself on being at the forefront of the so-called energy transition, having set its first renewable portfolio standard in 2002, requiring 20 percent of its electricity to come from renewables by 2010. In 2008, California increased the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 33 percent by 2020, followed by SB 350, which in 2015 increased the standard to 50 percent by 2030. Then, in 2018, SB 100 accelerated the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 60 percent by 2030, and required that the next 40 percent of generation come from zero-carbon sources (e.g., wind, solar, geothermal, and hydropower) of electricity by 2045. California has retired most of its nuclear plants with only the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant left, which is scheduled to retire by 2025. The Diablo Canyon nuclear plant currently provides 8 percent of California’s electricity—all of it carbon dioxide emission-free. California has clearly shown it does not welcome nuclear, which currently cannot compete economically with natural gas, wind, or solar.
