If renewables were a crop, and they’re certainly harvesters of energy, California’s renewables industry certainly had a bumper year in 2011. In all, the state’s solar and wind generating capacity grew by 830 megawatts in 2011. The total new capacity allows the state’s large investor-owned utilities to source 17 percent of their electric generation from renewable sources.

The added capacity is putting the state’s utilities well on their way to meeting their requirements under the state’s renewable portfolio standards, which require utilities to get 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. However, they’re still a bit behind some of the program’s original goals, which would have required them to source 20 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2010.

“Senate Bill 2x changed compliance dates for the 20 percent requirement from 2010 to 2013,” said California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) spokesperson Andrew Kotch. “Consequently, this is not an issue of retroactively applying a target to 2010, but the CPUC is still in the process of developing the new rules of how to determine compliance for the period prior to 2013.”

Under the new law, the utilities are required to average 20 percent renewable generation for the period between 2011 and 2013—a target which the utilities are projected to meet, according to the CPUC.

The closest thus far is Southern California Edison, which procured 19.3 percent from renewable energy last year. The company was followed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which purchased 15.9 percent from renewables. San Diego Gas and Electric has the farthest to go to catch up, which sourced only 11.9 percent from renewables.

“More wind and solar resources came online in 2011 than in any other year since the beginning of the Renewables Portfolio Standard program,” Kotch said.

Things are likely to change drastically as new utility-scale projects start coming online in the next two years.

“Online capacity is projected to be greater in 2012 for renewable resources than in 2011. However, this forecast is dependent on the successful deployment of many large-scale projects that all face the typical challenges of procurement, including financing risk, interconnection and permitting,” Kotch said.

These include solar projects like the 392-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which was originally slated to come online starting in 2010. But it faced certain hurdles including ensuring endangered species were protected, but some of the project should come online this year and more next year.