California Air Resources Board

The Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act (Senate Bill (SB) 350) established 2030 targets for energy efficiency and renewable electricity, among other actions, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reducing use of fossil energy. To help ensure that GHG emissions reductions are realized, large electricity providers are required to develop and submit Integrated Resource Plans (IRP) that detail how the utility will meet their customers' resource needs, reduce GHG emissions, and ramp up deployment of renewable and zero-carbon resources. SB 350 directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB), in coordination with the California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission, to establish 2030 GHG emissions targets for the electricity sector in general and each electricity provider (including investor-owned utilities, publicly owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators). In September 2023, CARB finalized the 2023 Update to the 2030 GHG emissions targets for certain electricity providers.

CARB staff originally developed these targets in July 2018, and they are available in the Senate Bill 350 Integrated Resource Planning Electricity Sector Greenhouse Gas Planning Targets Staff Report. Revised targets for certain electricity providers were published in March 2021 as part of the 2020 Update.

As noted above the IRP planning targets are one part of SB 350. This legislation also extended California's renewable electricity procurement goal to require 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, a goal that was increased to 60 percent by SB 100. SB 350 also requires California to double statewide energy efficiency savings in electricity and natural gas end uses by 2030. Looking further into the future, SB 100 and AB 1279 set additional targets. AB 1279 declares it the policy of the state to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce anthropogenic GHG emissions at least 85% below the 1990 level no later than 2045. SB 100 requires California to provide 100 percent of its retail sales of electricity from renewable and zero carbon resources by 2045. IRPs are designed to help ensure that these goals are met and GHG emissions reductions are realized.