Populous California, where officials have been pushing to move the energy mix away from natural gas and toward renewables, imported by far the most electricity of any state in the Lower 48 in 2019.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in a research note Monday said the Golden State’s net electricity imports totaled 70.8 million MWh in 2019, 25% of the state’s total electricity supply. 

“California utilities partly own and import power from several power plants in Arizona and Utah,” EIA researchers said. “In addition, California’s electricity imports include hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest, largely across high-voltage transmission lines running from Oregon to the Los Angeles area.”

During an August heat storm this past summer, California’s...