Environment

Green Innovation

  1. Home ›
  2. Environment ›
  3. Green Innovation

SOLAR CAPACITY AND PACE OF ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE ADOPTION ARE AREAS OF STRENGTH FOR SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY 

New policies and innovations are driving a shift from the use of carbon-based energy sources to alternative sources, clean technology, and increased energy efficiency.  This indicator measures San Bernardino County’s progress in achieving sustainable economic growth by tracking cumulative grid-connected solar generation capacity, the growth in zero emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption, and the trend in electricity and natural gas consumption.  

TREND / GEOGRAPHIC COMPARISON 

As of January 31, 2025, San Bernardino County ranks well among its Southern California peers in interconnected solar generation capacity.[1] On a per capita basis, San Bernardino County is second behind Los Angeles County in total non-residential system output capacity. Non-residential solar installations include the sectors of commercial, educational, industrial, military, non-profit, other government, and unknown. In terms of residential solar generation capacity, San Bernardino County’s total solar output of 35.0 kilowatts per 100 residents is behind San Diego (57.1) and Riverside (46.2) counties, but ahead of Orange (24.3) and Los Angeles (10.1) counties.  

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY IS DOMINANT IN NON-RESIDENTIAL SOLAR OUTPUT
Solar Generation Capacity in Kilowatts per 100 Residents, County Comparison, as of January 31, 2025

Sources: California Public Utilities Commission, California Distributed Generation Statistics (https://www.californiadgstats.ca.gov/downloads/); California Department of Finance, Demographics Unit, E-2 Report 

Compared to peer Southern California counties, San Bernardino County lags in light duty ZEV sales. However, the county experienced the fastest rate of growth, from 8% of sales in 2021 to 19% of sales in 2024, which equates to 136% growth in four years. Riverside County experienced the next fastest rate of growth at 124%, while Orange County had the slowest rate of growth at 83%. 

WHILE ZEV ADOPTION LAGS AMONG PEERS, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY POSTS FASTEST GROWTH RATE
Percentage of Light Duty Vehicle Sales that are Zero Emission Vehicles, County Comparison, 2021-2024

Source: California Energy Commission (2025), Zero Emission Vehicle and Infrastructure Statistics, last updated December 31, 2024, retrieved April 25, 2025 (http://www.energy.ca.gov/zevstats) 

EV Charging Stations

There are approximately 9 electric vehicle charging stations per 100 electric vehicles registered in San Bernardino County. This compares to 16 charges per 100 EVs statewide.

Source: California Energy Commission (2025), Zero Emission Vehicle and Infrastructure Statistics, last updated February 5, 2025, retrieved April 25, 2025 (http://www.energy.ca.gov/zevstats); California Department of Motor Vehicles, Vehicle Fuel Type County by Zip Code (https://data.ca.gov/dataset/vehicle-fuel-type-count-by-zip-code); United States Postal Service, Address Information System, ZIP+4 and City State Products 

Since 2014, overall per capita electricity consumption has increased modestly (2%), driven by a 10% increase in residential electricity consumption. Non-residential electricity consumption – comprising the sectors of agriculture, commercial, industrial, mining, streetlighting, and transportation, communications, and utilities – decreased by 2% between 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, natural gas consumption grew 22% since 2014, driven by a 33% increase in residential natural gas consumption and 13% growth in non-residential consumption.  

In 2023 in Southern California, San Bernardino County had the highest total electricity consumption per capita (7.04 KWh per capita) compared to 6.63 in Riverside County, 6.40 in Los Angeles County, 5.95 in Orange County, and 5.79 in San Diego County. In terms of natural gas consumption, Los Angeles County had the highest per capita consumption (300.68 therms per capita), followed by San Bernardino County (271.36 therms per capita), Orange County (193.09 therms per capita), Riverside County (184.56 therms per capita), and San Diego County (161.50 therms per capita).  

RESIDENTIAL ENERGY USE DRIVES OVERALL INCREASE IN ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS CONSUMPTION
Electricity Consumption by Kilowatt-hours per Capita in San Bernardino County, 2014-2023
Natural Gas Consumption in Therms per Capita in San Bernardino County, 2014-2023

Source: California Energy Commission, California Energy Consumption Dashboard (https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/california-energy-consumption-dashboards); California Department of Finance, Demographics Unit, E-2 Report    

[1] As measured by total direct current (DC) output of distributed generation in kilowatts

1The 2020 Green Innovation Index report from Next10 did not include regional data rankings as in previous years; therefore, the data in this indicator are the same as those reported in the 2019 Community Indicators Report. Regional rankings may be conducted in subsequent Green Innovation Index reports.