Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Tuesday requiring that California draw 33 percent of its electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind power by 2020.
The requirement is stricter than any other state’s except Hawaii’s, which calls for 40 percent by 2030.
“Right now, we are relying too heavily on coal-fired power plants,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said at a news briefing in Sacramento, shortly before signing the order.
About half the 50 states have renewable energy requirements, often called renewable portfolio standards. The climate bill passed by the House in June would establish this type of mandate at the national level, requiring 20 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from a combination of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures by 2020. The Senate has yet to vote on a companion measure.
In 2008, Mr. Schwarzenegger signed an executive order establishing a 33 percent renewable target by 2020. But Tuesday’s order was more definitive and provided guidance to state regulators about how to carry out the requirement. Mr. Schwarzenegger said that increasing production of renewable energy was an important part of California’s strategy to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases.
The details have recently been the subject of political wrangling. Last weekend, the Legislature, which Democrats control, passed bills with a 33 percent requirement for renewables. But Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said he would veto the bills, calling them “poorly drafted,” “overly complex” and likely to raise costs. In particular, he and many environmental officials were concerned that the bills would have severely restricted the amount of renewable electricity that could come from outside California.
“I am totally against protectionist policies,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said Tuesday.
Gino DiCaro, a spokesman for the California Manufacturers & Technology Association, said that while any renewable energy requirement was likely to increase costs for manufacturers, the executive order was “a step in the right direction” relative to the Legislature’s bills, which would have imposed heavier costs.
The executive order explicitly states that renewable energy from “resources and facilities located throughout the Western Interconnection” is welcome. The Western Interconnection is the power grid that spans the West.
Establishing a requirement, however, is far different from meeting it, as California is already finding out. The state’s interim mandate of 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources and energy efficiency by 2010 looks likely to fall short. The San Diego Gas and Electric Company, the furthest behind of the state’s three big utilities, says it currently gets 10 percent of its electricity from such sources.
