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Governor Schwarzenegger Boosts State's Renewable Energy Standard to 33% by 2020

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an Executive Order to streamline California's renewable energy project approval process and increase the state's Renewable Energy Standard to 33 percent renewable power by 2020.

"I am proposing we set the most aggressive target in the nation for renewable energy-33 percent by the year 2020-that's a third of our energy from sources like solar, wind and geothermal," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "But we won't meet that goal doing business as usual, where environmental regulations are holding up environmental progress in some cases. This executive order will clear the red tape for renewable projects and streamline the permitting and siting of new plants and transmission lines. With this investment in renewable energy projects, California has a bright energy future ahead that will help us fight climate change while driving our state's green economy."

To solidify his promise to increase the amount of electricity California receives from renewable resources, the Governor will expand the state's current RPS requirements to 33 percent by 2020. The Governor also will propose legislative language that will codify the new higher standards and require all utilities, public and private, to meet the 33 percent target and spread implementation costs across all ratepayers with safeguards for low-income customers. It will allow for the expansion of eligibility for California's RPS program to renewable energy generation from other western states and reform the renewable energy market structure to spur new development while providing consumer safeguards.

To streamline the application process for renewable energy development, the California Energy Commission and Department of Fish and Game will create a "one-stop" permitting process with the goal of reducing the application time for specific projects in half. This will be achieved through the creation of a special joint streamlining unit that will concurrently review permit applications filed at the state level.