California has hit a new record for clean energy.

Solar, wind, hydropower and other carbon-free sources made up 67% of the state’s retail electricity supply in 2023, the most recent year that data is available, according to new statistics released Monday by the California Energy Commission.

The total is an increase from 2022, when it was 61%. And it exceeds the prior record of 64%, set in 2019.

Under a state law signed by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018 aimed at reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change, California is required to reach 100% renewable and carbon-free electricity by 2045.

Solar, wind, geothermal, large hydropower, biomass and nuclear energy are allowed to count under the law.

The new milestone comes as renewable energy is facing several headwinds. Earlier this month, Republicans in Congress passed and President Trump signed a bill that removes and reduces many of the tax breaks, federal grants and other incentives that were put in place by President Biden for states, private companies and homeowners to expand renewable energy and electric vehicles.

“As the federal government turns its back on innovation and commonsense, California is making our clean energy future a reality,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday in a statement. “The world’s fourth-largest economy is running on two-thirds clean power — the largest economy on the planet to achieve this milestone.”

A key part of the state’s ability to keep expanding renewable energy has been fast growth in the construction of battery storage plants over the past five years. The plants capture electricity generated by solar power during hot parts of the day when the sun is shining and then release it back onto the power grid at night after the sun goes down.

But a major fire in January at one of the world’s largest battery storage plants, run by Texas-based Vistra and based in Moss Landing, in northern Monterey County, has raised safety concerns about the technology and given rise to community groups opposing the construction of new plants in their neighborhoods.

Battery storage has increased tenfold in the past five years in California, from 1,474 megawatts in 2020 to 15,7763 megawatts now, according to the California Energy Commission. A megawatt is enough electricity to run 750 homes.

But much more will have to be built. Electricity demand is steadily growing statewide due the growth in electric car sales — 25% of new car sales in California are now electric vehicles, the most of any state — along with the expanded demand from data centers needed for artificial intelligence, among other factors.

The state projects it will need 52,000 megawatts of battery storage by 2045, given steadily growing demand from electric vehicles and new data centers needed for artificial intelligence.