California’s Clean Energy Goals Criticized as Solar Capacity Needs Surge Amid Economic Challenges, Says CALSSA.

California’s clean energy goals have been criticized by the California Solar and Storage Association (CALSSA) during a panel discussion at the Intersolar North America 2024 conference in San Diego. The state passed a bill in 2018 aiming for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045, but has only averaged approximately half of this figure. The California Energy Commission (CEC) projects that the state will need to build 6 GW of solar-plus-storage capacity every year for the next 26 years to meet this target. CALSSA Executive Director Bernadette del Chiaro stated that total solar generation capacity will require to increase by 350% and total energy storage capacity by 700% to meet the state’s policy targets. The NEM 3.0 policy, introduced to support reliability, has led to project economics for rooftop solar in California have been eroded and demand has surged. High interest rates have also made it more expensive to borrow money for systems.