Image courtesy of Viviana Rishe on Unsplash
About one of every nine Americans is living in one state, and that state is called California.
For decades, the Golden State has been leading the way in many areas. In 2025, California was able to supply 100% of its electric needs using clean energy sources for an average of 7 hours every day, representing a 750% increase in only 3 years, according to California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild.
The California economy is the fourth largest economy on planet Earth, and its energy demands are huge, so if their leaders can blaze trails, other states can certainly follow suit. For example, Texas has made huge strides and it is now the number one wind energy producer in the US, and is now second in the US solar installations. This will help the Lone Star State diversify it’s portfolio and reduce its dependence on filthy, greenhouse gas emitting petroleum.
Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the UC, Berkeley, told Newsweek:
“Not only is California the fourth largest economy on the planet, but the state has exported clean energy to neighboring states and Canadian provinces for over 110 days in a row. What this milestone demonstrates is that by investing in clean energy generation and energy storage, economies large and small can be powered with clean energy at costs below fossil fuel generation. The fact that it is now cheaper to build a new clean energy power plant than to simply operate an existing fossil fuel plant has contributed greatly to this evolution.”
