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PUC hears Hetch Hetchy capital update; wholesale agencies press for written mountain-tunnel plan
Summary
Staff updated commissioners on Hetch Hetchy capital projects and splitting the mountain tunnel into three projects. Wholesale customers and BOSCA’s CEO pressed for written plans, schedule and legal guarantees to protect wholesale service-area customers in case of tunnel failure.
Commission staff presented the Hetch Hetchy Water and Power Enterprise quarterly capital improvement report and outlined a realignment of work on the mountain tunnel into three separate efforts: a bypass alternative, access improvements, and a full inspection and repair program targeted for 2017–2018.
Jeet Bajwa, deputy assistant general manager for infrastructure, said the mountain-tunnel work was being staged: “we have taken the mountain tunnel and made 3 projects out of it because they are gonna be implemented at different schedules.” Bajwa also reported that a Coast Range tunnel shutdown had been completed and that most listed projects are underway.
Wholesale agencies and partner organizations told the Commission they want clearer schedules and documented contingency plans. Jason Fried (Lafco staff) encouraged staff to keep the program on track. Nicole Sankula, identified in the record as CEO for BOSCA, told the Commission the Lower Cherry Aqueduct should be classified as a joint project (not solely water) and that the Moccasin Penstock should be treated as a power project; she said such classifications affect how costs are allocated. Sankula asked for a written plan for the mountain tunnel, including contingencies for replacement water and delivery in the event of catastrophic failure, and requested that any replacement supply be guaranteed by legal documents so wholesale customers have clarity.
Sankula summarized study timelines she had received: project plan and schedule to be presented to the Commission in June, an expected completion of tunnel inspection and repair by July 1, 2018, and a possible bypass tunnel by 2027. She said those measures would protect 26 agencies and roughly 1,700,000 residents in the wholesale service area.
Commissioners thanked the wholesale agencies for the regional coordination on conservation and asked staff to present follow-up material; staff said it will return with a revised quarterly report and the requested schedule and documentation.
