Mayor Lee directs SFPUC to develop timeline for Clean Power SF amid supervisors’ questions

Mayor Edwin Lee told the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Feb. 10 that he has directed the Public Utilities Commission’s general manager to develop a timeline for Clean Power SF and present it at the SFPUC27s Feb. 24 meeting.

The directive follows questions from several supervisors about next steps to turn the city27s long-discussed community choice aggregation plan into an operable program. Supervisor Marr told the mayor the board and environmental groups expect concrete progress this year and asked whether the mayor will "work with the Board of Supervisors and the Public Utilities Commission to take these preliminary steps by the summer as the final plan for Clean Power SF is developed in order to successfully launch a program by the end of the year?"

Lee said a new version of Clean Power SF can help San Francisco meet its climate goals and that "I have directed the general manager to work with the board and with LAFCO...to develop a timeline for Clean Power SF and present it to the commission at this, February 24 meeting." He added that he set a target for a final program approved no later than December 2015 "provided that all of the interim steps necessary to achieve that goal will be taken." The mayor said staff should engage stakeholders and that the general manager could move faster if able to meet program objectives.

Supervisor Avalos and Supervisor Marr pressed the mayor on outreach and cost issues. Avalos asked that the mayor fund a robust public-awareness campaign and expand project-learning grants to hire youth for culturally targeted outreach. Mayor Lee said he had "appropriated sufficient funds in the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission budget" for media and outreach and that the SFPUC already had a multimedia and language outreach and engagement plan.

Marr and Avalos also cited an Enernex report the Board has discussed, which listed preliminary steps the city should take before finalizing the program, including procuring energy contracts, determining administrative costs, and establishing a not-to-exceed rate. Those steps were identified in the board27s questioning as essential to estimating customer rates and launch feasibility.

Lee stressed the city's emissions progress and framed Clean Power SF as part of broader climate and economic goals, saying San Francisco has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and must ensure climate solutions are accessible to all neighborhoods and businesses.

Direction given at the meeting: the SFPUC general manager was asked to return with a timeline at the SFPUC meeting on Feb. 24 and to work with the Board and LAFCO on interim procurement, rate-setting, and administrative steps needed to meet the December 2015 target.