Governor’s desk last stop to California pledging 100% carbon-free energy by 2045

Enlarge / The large Barren Ridge solar panel array near Mojave, California. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) (credit: Getty Images)

On Wednesday evening, California's Senate passed SB 100, a bill mandating that utilities serving the state move to 100-percent carbon-free energy by 2045. If the Governor signs the bill into law, it will become one of the most aggressive in the nation, matching only Hawaii's carbon-free by 2045 commitment.

California's bill specifies that any energy obtained outside the state can not contribute to additional greenhouse gas emissions from that state. The stipulation preemptively closes a potential loophole in which California could acquire cheap energy from polluting plants in border states.

The bill also ratchets up California's previous carbon-free energy plan, such that the state will have to move to 60-percent carbon-free energy by 2030 rather than 50 percent by 2030.

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