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Last Friday, the California legislature approved a new renewable energy standard for the state requiring 33 percent of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, but Governor Schwarzenegger has vowed to veto it.

The good news is that it’s not the size of the clean energy standard that the governor has an issue with, it’s the part of the bill that requires two-thirds of that energy to be generated in-state.  Schwarzenegger plans to issue an executive order that also calls for a portfolio of 33 percent renewble energy by 2020, but puts no limit on the amount of clean energy the state can import.  It’s possible that he will also expand the definition of “clean energy” to include nuclear and hydroelectric power.

One downside of this portfolio standard coming as an executive order is that it may no longer be binding when Schwarzenegger leaves office in 2010.  He’s supposed to issue the order by the end of the week.

Either way, California will end up with the largest renewable energy standard in the country.  The state is already requiring its largest utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010 – a goal none of them are likely to meet.  One of those utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric, only got 6.1 percent of it electricity from clean sources last year.

via LA Times

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