June 17, 2026
Gas got sunburned
Solar in California surpassed natural gas in the first five months of 2026
California’s gas power slump has commenters cheering imports, batteries, and chaos
TLDR: California’s main grid got more electricity from big solar plants than from natural gas in early 2026, helped by booming batteries and a surge of cleaner imported power. Commenters were mostly thrilled, though some argued imports deserve more credit while others spiraled into full-on energy-policy rage.
California’s power plot just got a dramatic rewrite: for the first five months of 2026, big solar farms produced more electricity than natural gas in the state’s main grid, and commenters instantly turned it into a victory lap, a policy fight, and a doom-scroll session all at once. The raw numbers are wild enough on their own — solar output was up 21% from 2024, gas-fired power plunged 60%, and batteries got so much busier that their discharge tripled. On most days, sunshine beat gas. That alone had the thread acting like it had just watched an underdog sports upset.
But the comments quickly made clear this wasn’t just a simple “solar won” story. One of the strongest reactions was basically: hold on, imports did a lot of the work here. Users pointed out that California also doubled electricity imports from nearby regions, including cleaner power like hydro, nuclear, and new wind from New Mexico’s SunZia project. That sparked a mini-debate: is this a solar triumph, an imports triumph, or both? For fans, the answer was easy — if cleaner outside power pushes dirty gas off the stage, it’s still a win.
Then came the classic internet mood swing. One commenter posted queue links for even more solar and battery projects like a receipt drop, while another went full caps-lock apocalypse over federal money and stalled wind farms: “Do we survive this decade?” So yes, California had a big clean-energy moment — and the community responded with spreadsheets, climate cheers, and existential screaming. Naturally.
Key Points
- •Utility-scale solar generation in CAISO exceeded natural gas generation during the first five months of 2026.
- •Compared with the same period in 2024, CAISO solar generation rose 21% while natural gas generation fell 60%.
- •From April 2024 to April 2026, CAISO utility-scale solar capacity increased to 25 GW and battery storage capacity increased to 16 GW, while natural gas capacity stayed near 29 GW.
- •Battery storage discharge tripled in the first five months of 2026 versus the same period in 2024, helping move solar energy into non-sunny hours.
- •CAISO net generation declined 19% despite 7% higher demand because electricity imports doubled, including more hydro from the Pacific Northwest and imports from the SunZia wind project in New Mexico.