SB 100: Clean energy law

Senate Bill 100 (de León), the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018, expands and accelerates the California renewable portfolio standard, which sets how much of the state's electricity must come from renewable energy. The California RPS was raised from 33 percent by the year 2020 to 50 percent by 2030 just over three years ago with SB 350 (de León, 2015). With SB 100, California's previous renewable portfolio standard target is increased again, to 60 percent by 2030. This means that 60 percent of the total retail sales of electricity in the state in 2030 must be generated from eligible renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind farms and certain types of biomass and small hydroelectric facilities. SB 100 also sets new interim goals of 44 percent of retail sales of electricity be generated by renewable resources by 2024 and 52 percent by 2027.

Further, SB 100 sets the goal of supplying 100 percent of all retail sales of electricity in California from eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources by 2045. In moving to a 100 percent carbon neutral electricity system, the statute requires that the state maintain reliability of the grid, prevent unreasonable rate hikes for customers, and ensure that greenhouse gas emissions do not increase elsewhere on the western grid because non-renewable electricity is shifted to other western states. Under the bill, the California Public Utilities Commission, California Air Resources Board, and California Energy Commission are directed to use programs authorized under existing statutes to achieve SB 100's policy goal of 100 percent renewable and zero-carbon electricity. These agencies, in consultation with the California Independent System Operator and other grid operators in the state, will provide a report to the Legislature in 2021 and at least every four years thereafter reviewing the benefits and barriers associated with achieving the 100 percent policy from a number of angles.

Governor Jerry Brown's signing statement for SB 100 emphasized that the bill is designed to send a clear signal to the markets to expand clean energy generation, while ensuring that the state's electricity resource planning process maintains reliable and affordable electricity. The governor noted that strategies to meet that goal will need to include energy storage, increased energy efficiency, and modifying rates to shift energy use to those times of day with an oversupply of renewable power.

As a two-year bill, SB 100 was a long time in coming, passing out of the Senate in mid-2017 before stalling in the Assembly that same year. In 2018, the Assembly passed SB 100 on a 44-33 vote within the final days of the 2017-2018 session. Two weeks later, on Sept. 10, 2018, Brown signed SB 100 on the eve of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, which convened governmental and corporate leaders to take action on address climate change. Concurrent with his signing of SB 100, Brown issued Executive Order B-55-18, establishing the goal of carbon neutrality in California across all sectors of the economy by 2045, with net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter.