California is moving forward with its efforts to create a clean, reliable, and affordable energy system while facing the same challenges as other energy regulators worldwide. These challenges include more frequent heat waves, wildfires, floods, storms, and increased demand due to transportation electrification and the growth of artificial intelligence.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is actively engaging with international partners through memorandums of understanding and direct meetings. The aim is to exchange practical strategies that can help strengthen grid reliability, speed up clean energy deployment, and protect ratepayers. These partnerships also allow California to share its experience as other regions deal with similar issues.
In 2025, the CPUC hosted several key discussions with delegations from various countries:
– A delegation from Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water met with the CPUC to talk about investment in renewable generation and storage.
– Representatives from China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment visited to discuss ways to scale infrastructure for vehicle electrification and reduce transportation emissions.
– Staff from Denmark’s Danish Energy Agency worked with the CPUC, California Energy Commission (CEC), and California Air Resources Board (CARB) on topics such as offshore wind development, building decarbonization, demand flexibility, and how data centers can support affordable decarbonization.
– An Indian delegation participated in a roundtable focused on battery storage strategies.
These interactions highlighted that regions around the world are dealing with similar priorities: decarbonization, reliability, resilience, and affordability under increasing climate-related pressures.
According to Drew Hodel, Senior Advisor on Intergovernmental Affairs at the CPUC: “A major focus for the CPUC last year was ratepayer affordability. And what stood out in our conversations with global partners was how similar their challenges are to ours, from climate-driven grid stress to rising costs.”
Beyond bilateral meetings, the CPUC took part in the International Regulatory Futures Forum held in San Francisco in May 2025. There they joined regulators from Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to discuss investing in climate resilience and optimizing electricity systems for cost savings.
Later that year at COP30—the United Nations’ annual global climate conference—the CPUC joined a California delegation led by Governor Newsom. The group shared regulatory lessons learned during California’s transition toward clean energy.
California has made significant progress over recent decades. Since 2000 it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent while growing its economy by 81 percent. In electricity alone emissions have dropped by more than 40 percent thanks partly to nearly 17 gigawatts of battery storage capacity and three years of record renewable energy buildout. In 2025 California’s grid operated on entirely clean power for an average of nearly six hours per day—a substantial increase compared to previous years.
If ranked as a country based on electric vehicle sales alone California would be fourth globally behind China, the United States overall total including other states besides California itself), and Germany.
By sharing information internationally through these partnerships—and bringing back proven solutions—CPUC staff continue working toward a more resilient energy future both for California residents and communities worldwide.
