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SFPUC says Clean Power SF nearly fully contracted in short term after new long‑term PPAs
Summary
Clean Power SF reported increased enrollment and a nearly fully contracted short‑term portfolio after recent power purchase agreements, while staff committed to provide further job‑creation details and a 30‑year integrated resource plan.
Clean Power SF officials told the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on May 8 that recent contracting has largely closed short‑term gaps in the program's power supply and that staff will return with more information on jobs and a long‑range plan.
"We're 98% contracted for 02/2018," Clean Power SF Director Mike Himes said, describing the near‑term portfolio after recent agreements. Himes reviewed a laddered contracting strategy intended to manage price and technology risk across a multi‑year enrollment plan.
Barbara Hill, assistant general manager for power, said the program now serves about 81,000 customers and expects to mail enrollment notices that will bring the customer count to about 105,000 in July, largely through new commercial accounts. Himes said the program's opt‑out rate is roughly 3.2 percent and that roughly 4.2 percent of customers have selected the higher‑premium Super Green product.
Himes described two recently executed long‑term purchase agreements: a 22‑year power purchase agreement with sPower for a planned 100‑megawatt solar project in Lancaster, California, and a 15‑year agreement with a developer identified in the record as Terrigen for a 47‑megawatt wind project in Tehachapi, California. He also noted a 4.5‑year agreement with Calpine for geothermal energy from The Geysers in Sonoma County, which began delivering energy to the Clean Power SF program this month.
Asked about jobs, Himes said developers have agreed to prevailing wage terms and that sPower is committing to project labor agreements; staff will return with estimated job‑creation statistics. He also said staff are preparing a 30‑year integrated resource plan, to be updated every two years, that will include technology‑cost projections and inform how far forward the commission should contract.
The commission did not take a vote on a specific contract in this session; Himes said the portfolio includes about 13 contracts to diversify supplier risk and flagged projected operating margins for Clean Power SF of about 10 percent in the next two fiscal years, citing net operating revenue estimates of approximately $16,300,000 and $20,700,000 in successive budget years.
The next procedural steps noted by staff are the July enrollment mailing and return briefings on job estimates and the integrated resource plan.
