Wind power in California

The initiative and early development of wind power in California came during Governor Jerry Brown's first two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The state's wind power capacity has grown by nearly 350% since 2001, when it was less than 1,700 MW. According to the California Wind Energy Association (CalWEA), as of 2020, California had approximately 5,787 MW of wind energy capacity installed across the state. In 2020, wind projects in California generated 13,703 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, accounting for 7.2% of all power generated within the state.Additionally, California imported 16,635 GWh of wind energy from out-of-state projects, representing 20% of total power imports. Combined, wind energy supplied 11% of California's total system power in 2020, enough to power the homes in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles Counties combined. Most of California's wind generation is found in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, with some large projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. California is among the states with the largest amount of installed wind power capacity. In recent years, California has lagged behind other states when it comes to the installation of wind power. It was ranked 4th overall for wind power electrical generation at the end of 2016, behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. As of 2019, California had 5,973 MW of wind power generating capacity installed.