Our 2030 Clean Energy Vision
Learn about our bold journey to eliminate 100% of our greenhouse gas emissions from our electric generation by 2030. We call this our Zero Carbon Plan.
Leading the nation
For decades, SMUD has been a leader in clean energy and carbon reduction. Our 2030 Zero Carbon Vision continues this commitment.
Our goal is to reach zero carbon emissions in our power supply by 2030 – the most ambitious goal of any large utility in the United States.
This work is anchored on our longstanding commitment to provide safe and reliable power with rates among the lowest in California. We won’t compromise on this commitment.
As a leader in climate innovation, SMUD’s helping to position the Sacramento Region as a destination choice for forward-thinking, environmentally conscious businesses and a model for others around the nation to follow. Going absolute zero carbon is a bold and ambitious goal – one we believe we can and must achieve.
Through implementing our Community Impact Plan, we’re working to ensure our most under-resourced customers are part of this journey and reap the benefits of a clean energy future.
Zero Carbon Plan progress
We’ve made great progress since developing our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan in 2021. We’ve completed several projects in solar, battery storage and geothermal, bringing over 300 megawatts of renewable and energy storage projects online since the beginning of our journey.
While proven clean technology can get us to about 90% of our goal, we’re moving forward with several new technologies and innovative projects – like carbon caption and sequestration and large-scale solar and storage – to close the remaining 10% gap.
In total, we have about 950 megawatts of renewables and energy storage projects in various stages of development to be online by the end of 2026.
Partnerships and grants are critical as we scale new and emerging technologies, while keeping our rates among the lowest in California. Through a variety of grants, SMUD and our partners secured $330 million in 2023. These grants will help us deploy advanced smart meter grid technologies, move forward with exploring carbon capture and sequestration and increase the number of EV chargers at multi-family complexes, among other things.
Read 2024 Zero Carbon Plan Progress Report
Archived progress reports
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View our progress to a carbon-free future Get the latest data on our carbon emissions and customer enrollment in our clean energy programs. |
Why is SMUD going “zero carbon?”
Carbon emissions contribute to global warming, which leads to extreme weather events, rising sea levels and other environmental challenges that have devastating effects on present-day communities as well as future generations.
We live in one of the most polluted cities in the country. A recent report by the American Lung Association ranked the Sacramento area 7th in the nation based on days of unhealthy and unsafe levels of air pollution in the ozone layer.
Going zero carbon brings benefits not only globally, but also locally. Reduced emissions improves our local air quality, overall health and supports economic development through creating new clean energy job opportunities.
We can’t do this without you
Our customers, community and partners are at the heart of what we do. By going zero carbon, we’re helping create a cleaner and healthier region for all.
We’re all part of the solution. We offer generous rebates and incentives, programs, digital tools, education and many resources for our customers to make smart-energy choices so everyone can take action that helps move us all toward a brighter, cleaner future.
SMUD is your community-owned, not-for-profit electric service and your input and participation will help us get to zero.
- Visit CleanPowerCity.org to get more information about our rebates and programs.
- Discover 99 ways to join the charge.
- Read our Road to Zero blog.
- See what upcoming events SMUD has so you can take action for a better environment and future.
Read the 2030 Zero Carbon Plan
We're excited to release our plan to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from our power supply by 2030. We know that this is an ambitious goal, but we believe we can and must achieve it. By going zero carbon, we can help create a clean and healthy region for our customers.
Read executive summary Read full plan
Resources
We've put together a variety of resources to help answer your questions and learn more about our 2030 Clean Energy Vision.
Frequently asked questions
We answer many of the questions asked by our stakeholder groups and community members.
Recorded meetings
Watch recently held meetings where we discuss our 2030 Clean Energy Vision.
Customer research
We surveyed attendees of our community meetings to get feedback on our zero carbon goal.
Stay up to date
Want to know what’s happening next with our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan?
Be notified when our Board of Directors discuss topics you’re interested in.
Get updates from SMUD staff and learn why zero carbon is important to them.
Learn how we’re becoming a Clean PowerCity® and what you can do to help.
Provide feedback
We welcome your ideas or input on our approved 2030 Zero Carbon Plan. Email us at ZeroCarbon@smud.org to share your feedback.
Prior to the approval of our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan, we collected public feedback for our Board of Directors through April 16, 2021. View public comments.
What is our Zero Carbon Plan?
We're working with our customers and community partners to develop our 2030 Zero Carbon Plan - a road map for getting to zero carbon emissions by 2030 that's focused on 4 key areas.
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Natural gas generation repurposingToday, our five natural gas plants provide low-cost, reliable power 24/7. Eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from our power plants is essential to reach our goal of zero carbon by 2030. We’re focused on reimagining our existing generation portfolio to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions through replacement, re-tooling and using renewable fuels. To drastically reduce operations and emissions, we plan to replace 2 power plants with renewable and storage resources and re-tool our remaining fleet. Maintaining reliable electric service is critical, so we’ll conduct more detailed reliability assessments before finalizing plans for our natural gas power plants. |
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Proven clean technologyWe will expand the use of our existing carbon-free energy technologies like wind, solar, hydro, biomass, geothermal energy, battery storage and demand response. While these proven carbon-free technologies aren’t fully capable of achieving our 2030 zero carbon goal, they can help get us about 90% of the way there. Today, SMUD’s power supply is about 50% carbon-free. Our plan includes adding ~3,000 Megawatts of new renewable energy and storage, which is equivalent to the energy needs of more than 600,000 homes per year. This includes growing rooftop and battery storage adoption. |
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New technology and business modelsWe will explore new and emerging technologies - like power-to-gas technology, hydrogen and methane, long-duration batteries and carbon sequestration - that are either currently unknown or are not ready for large scale adoption due to price, reliability or other factors. This work will help us identify potential partnerships and business models like virtual power plants, and launch pilot projects and programs to test and prove new and emerging technologies and develop paths for prioritizing technology adoption and scaling. |
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Financial impacts and optionsOur road map will identify cost ranges and rate impacts associated with expanding our existing proven clean technologies and for researching and piloting new technologies and business models. We’re focused on making sure achieving our zero carbon goal is possible at a reasonable cost that minimizes rate increases for our customers, limiting rate impacts to the annual rate of inflation. We’ll do that by identifying savings and pursuing partnerships and grants that support the Plan. |