{"id":23353,"date":"2026-07-31T17:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23353"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:28:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:28:36","slug":"california-produced-over-half-its-may-electricity-from-solar-a-world-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=23353","title":{"rendered":"California produced over half its May electricity from solar, a world record"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/24428ac\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/5745x3830+0+0\/resize\/1500x1000!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2F14%2Fe34ae9c8413db03312b3289e7d95%2F1544783-enviro-pastoria-solar-project-0023-eat.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>California hit a major milestone in May, generating more than half its electricity from the sun in what is believed to be a global first, according to <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/ember-energy.org\/data\/us-electricity-data-explorer\/?trk=public_post_comment-text&amp;entity=California#data-tool\" target=\"_blank\">a new analysis<\/a> from the U.K.-based energy think tank Ember. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cCalifornia has had a wealth of solar growth in the last five years,\u201d said Abby Lestina, an analyst at Grid Status, another group that tracks electricity supply and demand in U.S. power markets. \u201cIt makes sense that they would reach this goal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the first time a large-scale power system is known to have surpassed 50% solar for an entire month and the second significant power record set by the state recently. For the first five months of 2026, California made more electricity from solar than from natural gas, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/todayinenergy\/detail.php?id=67784\" target=\"_blank\">according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration<\/a>. Burning natural gas has long been the dominant source of electricity in the state. This could be the first year that solar beats gas in California\u2019s power mix. <\/p>\n<p>A big part of the story is the <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2025-10-17\/california-made-it-through-another-summer-without-a-flex-alert\">boom in new battery storage<\/a> around the state, which allows it to save solar power when it\u2019s overabundant and use it when the sun goes down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBattery storage has transformed California\u2019s power system,\u201d Ember analyst Nicolas Fulghum wrote. \u201cBatteries now shift huge amounts of solar power from midday into the evening peak, which is what allows this level of solar penetration in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ember, which promotes renewable energy, takes <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/ember-energy.org\/data\/us-electricity-data-explorer\/?trk=public_post_comment-text&amp;entity=California#data-tool\" target=\"_blank\">its data<\/a> from the EIA\u2019s <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/electricity\/monthly\/\" target=\"_blank\">monthly power reports<\/a>. Its electricity tracker includes only the energy that is produced in state, not imports from Arizona, for example. Solar generation includes both utility-scale solar and rooftop.<\/p>\n<p>California was able to pass 50% solar generation in May specifically because it\u2019s usually neither cold nor hot, meaning there\u2019s lower demand, which allows solar to meet more of the energy needs, according to the analysis.<\/p>\n<p>The massive <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/environment\/story\/2026-06-18\/after-nearly-two-decades-this-massive-new-mexico-wind-project-is-now-powering-california\">SunZia wind project<\/a> in New Mexico also started sending electricity to California <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/largest-us-renewable-project-begins-generating-electricity\/\" target=\"_blank\">in April,<\/a> reducing the need to burn natural gas for electricity at night. The imports increased solar\u2019s share in the mix that Ember tracks, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/nicolas-fulghum_new-california-just-reached-a-world-first-activity-7487851822548725760-Rx9b\" target=\"_blank\">Fulghum wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>People in California are using more natural gas this month, which is common as summer temperatures peak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNatural gas is the grid operator\u2019s generation that will step in when demand starts to rise,\u201d Lestina said. \u201cYou see a big jump in natural gas as a percentage of the fuel mix this year starting on July 12, which is when temperatures started to pick up in the West.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>On the whole, however, California is making more clean electricity, and the amount made from natural gas, which generates air pollution and heats up the climate, <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/todayinenergy\/detail.php?id=66704\" target=\"_blank\">has been declining<\/a> over the last few years. Under <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-pol-ca-renewable-energy-law-signed-20180910-story.html\">legislation signed in 2018<\/a>, all of California\u2019s electricity is to come from clean sources by 2045.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California hit a major milestone in May, generating more than half its electricity from the sun in what is believed to be a global first, according to a new analysis from the U.K.-based energy think tank Ember. \u201cCalifornia has had a wealth of solar growth in the last five years,\u201d said Abby Lestina, an analyst&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/bea65a8\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/5745x3016+0+407\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2F14%2Fe34ae9c8413db03312b3289e7d95%2F1544783-enviro-pastoria-solar-project-0023-eat.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}