California produced over half its May electricity from solar, a world record

Blanca Begert, Los Angeles Times on Jul 31, 2026

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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.

“California has had a wealth of solar growth in the last five years,” said Abby Lestina, an analyst at Grid Status, another group that tracks electricity supply and demand in U.S. power markets. “It makes sense that they would reach this goal.”

It’s 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, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 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’s power mix.

A big part of the story is the boom in new battery storage around the state, which allows it to save solar power when it’s overabundant and use it when the sun goes down.

“Battery storage has transformed California’s power system,” Ember analyst Nicolas Fulghum wrote. “Batteries 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.”

Ember, which promotes renewable energy, takes its data from the EIA’s monthly power reports. 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.

California was able to pass 50% solar generation in May specifically because it’s usually neither cold nor hot, meaning there’s lower demand, which allows solar to meet more of the energy needs, according to the analysis.

The massive SunZia wind project in New Mexico also started sending electricity to California in April, reducing the need to burn natural gas for electricity at night. The imports increased solar’s share in the mix that Ember tracks, Fulghum wrote.

People in California are using more natural gas this month, which is common as summer temperatures peak.

“Natural gas is the grid operator’s generation that will step in when demand starts to rise,” Lestina said. “You 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.”

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, has been declining over the last few years. Under legislation signed in 2018, all of California’s electricity is to come from clean sources by 2045.