Newsom touts California’s record increase in battery energy at UN climate change conference

California has added 1,200 megawatts of battery energy storage to its electrical grid over the past six months, further increasing its nation-leading capacity and moving the state closer to its clean energy goals, officials announced Tuesday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the latest milestone while touring the United Nations Conference of the Parties Climate Change Summit in Belem, Brazil, touting the state’s international climate leadership in the conspicuous absence of Trump administration officials.

The latest addition brings the Golden State’s available battery storage capacity to 16,942 megawatts. This is about one-third of the estimated capacity needed to reach the goal of 100% clean energy by 2045.

Battery energy storage systems capture excess wind and solar power and feed it into the grid during peak demand times or when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.

Newsom used the announcement as an opportunity to sharply criticize President Donald Trump, who has focused on the growth of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal while simultaneously cutting funding for renewable energy projects in California and across the country.

“Donald Trump’s reckless energy policies put China first and America behind, allowing the Chinese government to seize control of the world’s clean energy economy and the high-wage jobs, manufacturing, and economic prosperity that come with it,” the governor said in a statement. “California will not sit idly by.”

Although China continues to burn fossil fuels, it is setting world records for investment in renewable energy and battery storage. China has ordered 37 gigawatts of battery storage in 2024, more than the United States and Europe combined, according to energy think tank Ember.

But batteries have also been transformative for California, helping the state avoid rolling blackouts and emergency calls to conserve energy known as flex alerts in recent years. California currently has more battery capacity installed than any other jurisdiction on earth except China, Newsom said.

“We have an advantage now,” he told a climate investor event in São Paulo before heading to Belem.

Experts say the state’s progress has been impressive. The total operating battery capacity in the U.S. is about 37 gigawatts, nearly half of which is in California, said Maia LeRoy, founder of energy consulting firm Lumenergy LLC.

“California has a big win here,” LeRoy said. The state has a generating capacity of 16,942 megawatts (16.9 gigawatts), enough to power about 13 million homes for four hours (the typical duration of a battery), he said.

With the surge in storage, the state is poised for even faster growth in solar power. Over the past two years, the combination of solar power and battery storage has reduced fossil gas use by California Independent Operators, the state’s main power grid, by more than 37 percent, said Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.

“That’s a huge amount of batteries,” Jacobson said.

Energy storage is one of the many ways California hopes to stand out at this year’s COP Summit. Representatives from the state, including Newsom, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot and Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez, also signed several partnerships and agreements with other regions and nations this week.

These include the Global Energy Storage and Grid Pledge, launched at last year’s COP meeting, which sets a global goal of deploying 1,500 gigawatts of energy storage and building approximately 15.5 million miles of new transmission infrastructure by 2030. California is the first local government to join the pledge, which is joined by more than 100 countries and organizations.

While the pledge is a good start, Jacobson said the world needs more than just storage and transmission.

“California is moving faster than the nation as a whole, but to really take off, we need to electrify transportation, industry, and buildings as quickly as we build battery storage, while also growing offshore wind, solar, rooftop solar, and enhanced geothermal power,” he said.

The state is working toward those goals, including pursuing a massive offshore wind project that lost nearly $500 million in federal funding from the Trump administration this year.

Other agreements signed at the COP so far this year include joint partnerships and memorandums of understanding with Colombia, Chile, Nigeria, the Brazilian state of Pará, and the German state of Baden-Württemberg on issues such as wildfire prevention and response, sustainable urban transport, and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Los Angeles Times in 2025. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.