NSW is the worst state in Australia for renewable energy use - and it is falling further behind, a new report from the Climate Council says.
The report suggests the Baird government is a long way from its stated aim of becoming Australia's California, the US state renowned for its inventive and widespread use of solar and renewable sources. 
NSW was the only state to score a "D" in the annual report card from the independent non-profit organisation founded by members of the axed federal government Climate Commission, which used publicly available data from other sources. 
"All of the states are well endowed with renewable energy, it's just a question of whether they have taken the initiative," said report author Andrew Stock.
Only about 6 per cent of NSW's energy produced in 2014 came from renewable sources, according to figures in the report.
That was a slight drop on the previous year and compares unfavourably with other states, such as Tasmania (95 per cent), South Australia (40 per cent) and Western Australia (13 per cent).
But a spokesman for Energy Minister Anthony Roberts revealed discrepancies in its approach to calculating renewable energy use, with government estimates doubling the council's.
Mr Roberts' office said that 14 per cent of the state's energy came from renewable sources.
NSW had "billions of dollars of renewable projects in the pipeline", the spokesman said, and led Australia with three large-scale solar projects.
Though NSW's proportion of renewable energy use is comparable to more populous states such as Queensland and Victoria, the report authors penalised the state for not committing to a formal target for securing a proportion of its energy from renewables.
The other large states have targets of reaching 20 and 50 per cent renewable consumption within the next five and 15 years respectively.
A spokesman for Mr Roberts said the government was on track to meet a national target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020.
"[Renewable initiatives] will help deliver a total of more than $12 billion in bill savings to NSW households and businesses between 2015 and 2040," the spokesman said.
NSW also produces a little less than half the renewable energy per capita of Queensland and Victoria, the next-ranked states, according to the report's authors, when large-scale hydroelectricity projects are excluded. Government estimates, including hydro-electricity projects, put NSW ahead of the other two populous states.
The state government also scored points for plans to power the Northwest Rail Link project with renewable sources.
But it has failed to finalise guidelines for wind farms despite having released drafts five years earlier, a delay that is likely to have deterred potential investors in that technology, the report found.
Half of Australia's eight states and territories have established renewable energy targets.
National investment in renewable energy has fallen drastically in recent years amid uncertainty following policy changes under the Abbott government.