Roughly USD 912m earmarked for clean energy in California budget revision

California governor Gavin Newsom has presented a revision plan for the state’s 2021-2022 budget that earmarks USD 912 million (EUR 749.6m) for energy investments, including offshore wind, storage and green hydrogen.

The measures, unveiled last week, aim to support the state’s economic recovery in the post-pandemic setting through investments in a range of sectors. The proposal needs to be approved by the state legislature. A final budget is to be adopted by June 15.

Investments in the energy sector will seek to speed up California’s progress towards meeting its clean energy goals. In particular, USD 350 million are set to be allocated for “pre-commercial long-duration storage projects” and USD 250 million will go for improving energy efficiency in the industrial sector. Another USD 110 million is planned to support the production of green hydrogen so as to lower the state’s reliance on gas. The offshore wind industry, meanwhile, will get USD 20 million in state money.

The budget document also contains USD 35 million for transmission planning and USD 125 million to reduce energy use at food production facilities.

Another point of the governor’s proposal envisages USD 1.4 billion for 2021-2022 to demonstrate and purchase or lease green buses and trucks.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.822)

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