California energy production by source and the continued need for fossil fuels

I recently read an article that California is on pace to completely convert all energy generation sources to renewable sources by 2045. Data from the California Energy Commission website show that the transition to renewable sources has slowed in recent years. The amount of energy generated within the state from natural gas has declined by 18% since 2009. However, natural gas is still the single largest source of energy generation within the state and accounts for 46% of all energy generation within the state. All renewables combined account for only 39% of energy generation within the state in the latest available data. The majority of the growth in renewable energy sources has been in solar. Solar now accounts for approximately 20% of energy generation in state. Growth in all other renewable sources has been stagnant for ~10 years.

The amount of energy generated within the state through natural gas has been relatively constant since 2016. It seems unlikely from this data that…