Gov. Brown signs bill committing California to 100 percent renewable energy

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Monday SB 100, which commits California to 60 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent clean energy by 2045.

“California has taken a monumental step in enacting one of the world’s most ambitious clean energy policies,” Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said. “As the largest solar market in the U.S., California has already proven that investing in renewable energy brings jobs and massive economic and environmental benefits to the state — benefits that will grow exponentially with the enactment of SB 100.”

The Energy Storage Association (ESA) also applauded the passage of the bill and noted the role that storage will play in achieving the goal.

“As an enabling technology with a multitude of applications, the added flexibility that storage provides to the electric grid will prove crucial to achieving the goals of SB100 in a cost-effective manner while maintaining grid reliability,” ESA said in a press release. “Storage resources can be deployed to optimize existing renewable energy resources and to integrate additional ones, serving as a multiplier of the greenhouse gas reductions made possible by ambitious clean energy policies like California’s.”