Actually, the state doesn't have any plants fired by coal anymore for one simple reason: there were hardly any in the first place.

It’s worth mentioning, though, that a decade ago about a fifth of the Golden State’s power still came from this fossil fuel when it was burned in other states out West, often on hot summer days when demand spikes across California and in much of the American West.

So how has California cut coal power by around 80%?

The single biggest step happened nearly two decades ago — long before anyone outside the utility boardrooms and a tiny circle of state lawmakers and regulators was talking about climate change (which, remember, hadn’t quite registered even with Democratic presidential front-runner Al Gore at the turn of the 21st Century.)