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SFPUC highlights Clean Power SF enrollment, staff report favors acquisition option and extends LAFCO MOU
Summary
The commission heard that Clean Power SF enrollment passed 400,000 customers and reviewed staff analysis of options for reducing dependence on PG&E, including a staff-favored acquisition approach. Commissioners approved a one-year MOU extension with LAFCO to support Clean Power SF planning.
San Francisco’s Clean Power SF program has enrolled more than 400,000 customers, and staff presented options for deeper independence from Pacific Gas & Electric Co., including a staff-favored path toward acquiring PG&E distribution assets.
Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for power, told the commission the program had completed April enrollment and serves “more than 400,000 customers” with a 3% opt-out and roughly a 97% retention rate. In a staff report on electricity-service options, the PUC outlined three approaches for local electric service: limited independence, partial distribution ownership, and full independence with acquisition of PG&E distribution assets. Hale summarized the report’s conclusion: the analysis “favors acquisition of PG and E electric assets” as offering the most durable long-term benefits subject to financing and operational complexity.
Staff emphasized the scale and complexity of any acquisition. Hale said the current local revenue stream for distribution service is about $300 million annually and that public-purpose charges add roughly $60 million, for an estimated $360 million total currently paid to PG&E for distribution and related charges. She and other speakers warned that detailed valuation, workforce transition plans and regulatory review would be required before any firm offer could be made.
Commissioners pressed staff for a workplan and for more detail on financing, workforce impacts and timing. Several commissioners asked for ongoing public engagement so the analysis does not arrive as a fully baked product with no commission role in the evaluation. The commission also approved item 14 to extend a memorandum of understanding with the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission by one year at existing funding levels; Brian Goble, LAFCO’s executive officer, urged approval and the commission voted in favor.
What happens next: staff will return on scheduling and financing options as the work proceeds; the MOU extension preserves LAFCO participation in Clean Power SF planning for another year.
