SFPUC advances Clean Power SF plan, staff to pursue Shell Energy master agreement after outreach

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on a voice vote approved an updated Community Choice Aggregation implementation plan for Clean Power SF and directed staff to continue a structured outreach process before finalizing vendor commitments.

Barbara Hill, assistant general manager for power, told the commission staff will ask the general manager later to sign a master agreement with Shell Energy North America if customer testing and price negotiations support the program. Hill said staff will run an "early notification" outreach to roughly 30,000 households to measure interest and to present expected rates and the character of supply. She said staff estimates a commitment under the proposed master agreement could cost about $38,000,000 for roughly 4.5 years, with additional work to confirm wholesale price points during a five‑month settlement period after signing.

The nut of the decision was procedural: commissioners approved filing the updated plan with the California Public Utilities Commission, clearing the way for the next steps of the statutory opt‑out period and additional joint meetings with LAFCO and the Board of Supervisors. Hill said the commission will consider adopted "not to exceed" rates in February and would return to the commission after early outreach and cost testing to request authority for the general manager to execute the Shell Energy master agreement.

Public commenters and advocates urged longer, more inclusive stakeholder sessions and pressed staff to consider an alternative local power build‑out. Eric Brooks of the San Francisco Green Party and other advocates warned that treating commercial customers as opt‑in rather than enrolling them with an opt‑out could reduce program enrollment, impair bonding capacity and limit the program's ability to build out renewables without a significant premium. Hill acknowledged the concerns and said staff will provide invite lists and additional outreach and will report back with survey and early‑notification findings.

Commissioner Courtney moved to approve filing the updated implementation plan with the CPUC; Commissioner Kane seconded and the motion carried. The commission also scheduled a joint PUC–LAFCO meeting for Nov. 30 to review customer notification and education materials.

Next steps are structured outreach, survey analysis early next year, presentation of not‑to‑exceed rates and, if supported, a future request to authorize execution of the Shell master agreement. The commission emphasized it will return for direction if early customer testing shows negative interest levels.