SACRAMENTO - The Clean Energy, Jobs, and Affordability Act of 2022 (SB 1020) led by State Senator John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and jointly authored by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego), Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced), and Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) is poised to pass the State Senate today on a 30 to 9 vote, and will head to Governor Gavin Newsom for his consideration once a final vote is tallied. SB 1020, which earlier passed the State Assembly by a 54 to 17 bipartisan vote, will ensure benchmarked accountability to ensure California reaches its goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy use by 2045.
“Meeting the challenges of our climate crisis demand that we establish and follow a clear, aggressive strategy, which is why the passage of the Clean Energy, Jobs, and Affordability Act of 2022 is so important,” said Senator Laird. “Benchmarking these key climate goals evolved through ten months of hard work by the Senate Climate Workgroup and reflects the need for California to take definitive steps to reach a goal of 100 percent carbon neutral energy production by 2045.”
“Across the state, mounting impacts of a warming climate threaten our economy and quality of life. SB 1020 is another significant step to reach the landmark renewable energy and zero-carbon resources supply goals set by SB 100 in 2018,” Pro Tem Atkins said. “SB 1020 establishes more defined targets for California’s state agencies to meet our very necessary and aggressive climate goals.”
SB 1020 adds interim targets to the policy framework originally established in SB 100 (DeLeón, Chapter 312, Statutes of 2018) to require renewable energy and zero-carbon resources to supply 90% of all retail electricity sales by 2035 and 95% of all retail electricity sales by 2040. The inclusion of interim targets will ensure that the state makes steady and accountable progress towards the full decarbonization of California’s electricity grid.
The bill also requires all state agencies to rely on 100% renewable energy and zero-carbon resources to serve their own facilities by 2035. This accelerated target puts state agencies at the forefront of efforts to decarbonize the grid and demonstrate leadership by example. In addition, if needed, the State Water Project could be allowed up to 2040 to meet this goal.
Lastly, the bill encourages better information-sharing and coordination on transmission planning to authorize the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and CA Energy Commission (CEC) to disclose certain confidential information to the CA Independent System Operator (CAISO) in order to speed up and streamline siting and construction of transmission in order to meet our clean energy targets. This provision was also an SB 100 Joint Agency recommendation.
The Senate Climate working group was formed last fall, and the twelve senators have since met twenty-five times, including nine meetings with a broad array of stakeholders. Eleven bills, of which SB1020 is one, are moving through the process as a broad legislative response to the climate crisis.
The bill will take effect January 1, 2023 if signed into law by Governor Newsom.
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Senator John Laird represents the 17th State Senate District, which includes all of Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo counties, the majority of Monterey County, as well as parts of Santa Clara County. He previously served as the Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, member of the State Integrated Waste Management Board, a member of the State Assembly, Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Aids Project, and two terms as Santa Cruz Mayor. His lifetime of public service and social justice advocacy saw him become one of the first openly gay mayors to serve in the United States. Senator Laird has been a long-time resident of Santa Cruz with his spouse John Flores.