Misleading: Gov. Newsom Claims CA is 67% Clean Energy Despite State Agencies Reporting Otherwise

According to new data released on Monday by the California Energy Commission (CEC), 67% of the state’s total energy now comes from clean sources, with hydro and nuclear energy both playing a larger than anticipated role in keeping that figure up.

The CEC found that, in 2023, 43% of all energy produced in California came from renewable sources including solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. Meanwhile, 12% in total came from nuclear sources and another 12% came from hydro power. As only 41% of the state’s energy was from clean sources a year before, a full 16% of California’s energy production has shifted away from fossil fuels, making the state on track for 100% clean energy by their 2045 goal.

However, as the announcement noted, these figures are only estimated, with many variables being in place place, like weather, demand, and state water levels all playing a part.

“It’s important to note that year-to-year percentages may vary due to weather and water conditions, which can impact resources like wind, solar, and hydroelectric power, as well as total consumer demand for electricity,” said the CEC announcement. “While nuclear energy has historically provided a stable share of California’s clean energy supply, this could shift in the coming years as the availability of nuclear power changes. At the same time, California continues to add new clean energy capacity each year, supporting steady progress toward its long-term goals.”

When it comes to electric generation, the CEC pushed forward a different story to tell for 2023. According to that report made earlier this year, the state is only at 56% renewable power, or 58% when energy imports are taken into place. In comparison, fossil fuels, mostly natural gas, are actually closer to 44%, or 42% after imports are factored in. And even these figures are a bit high, as the earlier report notes that hydroelectric production saw a boost in 2023 thanks to California having a wetter year than usual.

However, as the Governor’s announcement on the figures pointed out, they can get away with saying California is at 67% clean energy now by zeroing in on retail electricity sales, instead of overall production.

“The state released new data showing California’s continued progress toward a clean energy future with 67% of the state’s retail electricity sales in 2023 coming from renewable and zero-carbon electricity generation — compared to just 61% the previous year and around 41% a decade ago,” said Governor Gavin Newsom’s office on Monday.

A misleading 67%

In reality, total generation with imports had California sitting at 58% clean energy in 2023, but when it came to retail electricity sales, it was at 67% clean energy. While the state wasn’t wrong about the 67%, they failed to note that it was for one specific metric. The CEC report on Monday also failed to note their earlier total report. Nonetheless, the 67% figure was praised by Governor Newsom and others.

“As the federal government turns its back on innovation and commonsense, California is making our clean energy future a reality. The world’s fourth largest economy is running on two-thirds clean power – the largest economy on the planet to achieve this milestone,” said Newsom. “And for the first time ever, clean energy provided 100% of the state’s power nearly every day this year for some part of the day. Not since the Industrial Revolution have we seen this kind of rapid transformation.”

“California has achieved yet another major milestone on our journey to a clean energy future. The latest numbers show how our state is demonstrating that clean energy is mainstream and is here to stay,” added CEC Chairman David Hochschild.

A total growth of clean energy was also noted.

“More than 9 out of 10 days so far this year have been powered by 100% clean energy for at least some part of the day in California. In 2025, California’s grid has run on 100% clean electricity for an average of 7 hours a day,” the Governor’s office said. “Data compiled by the California Energy Commission shows clean energy has powered the equivalent of 51.9 days in the state – nearly 30% of the year to date running on 100% clean electricity. That already surpasses the amount of “clean energy days” last year – and represents a 750% increase in clean energy days since 2022.

“California continues to move at a rapid pace on bringing clean energy online. Since 2019, a record 25,000 MW of new energy resources statewide have been added to the grid, with most of that being solar and battery storage. This aligns with the Governor’s roadmap to the state’s clean energy future released in 2023, which called for 148,000 megawatts (MW) of new clean power by 2045.”

However, as the Globe has noted, the clean energy push has also been stressing California’s energy system and will do so for years to come. California’s are paying thousands more per year on average to have more green energy, with fossil fuel plant closures coming at rates that clean energy is struggling to replace. In addition, dam closures have helped shrink California’s energy capacity, with only high water levels in recent years helping mask the energy losses.

And that’s on top of California’s lone remaining nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, only recently getting a life extension to 2030. As the plant covers 9% of the state’s total electric output, and is considered green energy, the state is literally racing against the clock to try and make up for it by the time the plant closes. Right now, Diablo Canyon is a bridge source of clean power that is due to be cut off by the end of the decade – all of which isn’t really mentioned in the CEC report on Monday. Instead, nuclear and hydro are simply major sources of clean energy that they are happy to note.

At best, the 67% is misleading. Total generation for clean energy is actually much lower, with two of the main clean energy sources looking at lower production totals in the coming years.