Where Does California Get Its Electricity? The 2024 Power Mix, Imports and Daily Use

California got about a third of its electricity from natural gas in 2024, a fifth from solar, and most of the rest from wind, hydro and nuclear, according to the California Energy Commission. About 78% was generated in the state and 22% was imported. The CEC counts 62% of the mix as clean energy, up from 58% in 2023.

These figures come from the CEC's 2024 Total System Electric Generation report, the latest full year it has published. They describe where the power serving California came from, not what any one utility bought: PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, the city utilities and the community choice providers each report their own mix. If you are here because of your bill, generation is only one part of it; our guide to why California electric bills are high covers the rest.

California electricity generation by source, 2024

The CEC adds up every utility-scale power plant in California, one megawatt or larger, and net imports from out-of-state plants serving California. The result for 2024 is below, sorted by share of the total mix.

Inside the state alone, natural gas made 40.00% of generation and solar 23.44%. Imports change the picture because they lean toward wind, nuclear and coal: more than half of the wind and almost all of the coal serving California was generated elsewhere. “Unspecified” is power bought on open markets that cannot be traced to one plant; the CEC notes it is typically a mix and may include renewables.

How much electricity California imports

Imports were 62,157 gigawatt-hours in 2024, down 5% from 2023. Most came from the Southwest, 46,344 gigawatt-hours, with 15,813 from the Northwest. The CEC ties the Northwest decline to drought: BC Hydro, which traditionally sends power south, spent 2023 and 2024 importing about 20% of its own load, and imports from BC Hydro and the Bonneville Power Administration fell 70% from 2022 levels over those two years.

Hydro, solar and batteries in 2024

California's hydroelectric output fell 8% from a very wet 2023, which the CEC still ranks as the 11th highest of the past 25 years. Solar keeps growing at both scales. Beyond the utility-scale solar in the table, the CEC counts more than 17,400 megawatts of rooftop and other behind-the-meter solar, which it says displaces about 10% of the energy local utilities would otherwise supply. Statewide battery storage reached 15,040 megawatts in 2024, including 2,515 megawatts of distributed systems at homes and businesses, which lets some of the midday solar be used in the evening peak.

How much electricity does California use per day?

Averaged over the 366 days of 2024, the CEC's total works out to about 760 gigawatt-hours a day. That is the power delivered from plants and imports; it leaves out rooftop solar used on site, which the CEC's demand forecast put at 26,765 gigawatt-hours for 2024. At the household level, EIA's 2024 data works out to about 16.5 kWh a day for the average California home. Our average kWh per day guide breaks that down by type of home.

Does the power mix set your electricity price?

Only partly. The mix shapes the generation portion of a bill, which your utility or a community choice provider buys for you. Delivery charges for poles, wires and wildfire work are a separate part of the rate, and the CPUC Public Advocates Office names wildfire costs, transmission and distribution investment and rooftop solar incentives as the main reasons rates have risen. Those costs sit on top of whatever the power itself costs; for where that leaves California nationally, see how California's rates compare with other states.

If a community choice aggregator supplies your electricity, it chooses the generation and PG&E, SCE or SDG&E still delivers it and sends the bill. The CPUC's rate comparison site lists the providers at each ZIP code. For what solar at home does to your own share of the mix, and your bill, start with the current rates by utility and what happens to home solar after sunset.