PUC updates electric resource plan; recommends green test bed and steps toward Clean Power SF

San Francisco — The PUC's power division presented a draft update to the city's Electric Resource Plan, focusing on near-term actions to move toward a greenhouse-gas-free goal by 2030 and on tools the city can use within its limited procurement authority.

Barbara Hale, Assistant General Manager for Power, summarized work with the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Green Tech advisory committee and highlighted four short-term recommendations including a green test-bed concept to pilot and learn about emerging energy technology. Hale said San Francisco controls a relatively small portion of the energy serving the city (about 150 MW of municipal load) and that roughly 83 percent of energy consumption in the city is served through PG&E or direct-access providers. "We have limited control over energy systems that serve the city," Hale said, but the plan recommends measures the city can promote: energy efficiency, demand response, behind-the-meter generation, and community-scale projects.

Hale said staff is also studying transmission options to strengthen city supply (including completing a line into Newark) and that community choice aggregation (Clean Power SF) remains a longer-term pathway to increase municipal control. She said the draft plan is posted online and staff expects additional public hearings in early December and will bring a revised draft to the Board of Supervisors in early 2011.

Public commenters urged restarting municipal solar projects (noting several delays) and broader outreach. Staff committed to written updates about outstanding solar projects and to broaden outreach beyond traditional stakeholders.

No formal action was taken; the item was presented for discussion and for public input on the draft plan.