California's renewable mandates drive higher electricity costs and reliability challenges

The article contends that California's policy of escalating renewable mandates—originally a 20% target in 2002, later raised to 50% by 2030, then 60% by 2030, and ultimately 100% by 2045—has forced utilities to purchase higher-priced renewable energy, which is passed on to ratepayers. The California Independent System Operator, which runs the wholesale market for most of the state, is required to favor solar and wind, inflating costs and causing curtailment where excess solar is bought but not used.

Although natural gas still generated roughly 31% of the state's net electricity in 2025, it is often sidelined during daylight hours and must ramp up at night, a process that is costly. Battery storage, now over 21,860 MW installed, is being used to shift midday solar output to evening demand, but its limited duration strains the system. Additional expenses stem from the state's cap-and-invest climate program and the California Climate Credit, which the author says merely masks the underlying rate increases.