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Community protest and a labor dispute put San Francisco solar projects on hold, speakers tell PUC
Summary
A public commenter told the PUC that a labor dispute at the Sunset Reservoir solar job triggered a two‑day shutdown and that, as a result, staff paused additional solar projects pending resolution of lien and labor issues affecting local hire goals.
A community organizer told the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s meeting that recent labor tensions at the Sunset Reservoir solar project resulted in a short shutdown and broader pause on other municipal solar installs, and urged the commission to examine options to protect community hiring goals.
"All solar is on hold," Joshua Arce said during public comment, describing a labor dispute that led to a two‑day closure of work at Sunset Reservoir and the temporary loss of several community hires; staff and community organizations later convened to return most workers to the site (public comment). He said five final community hires were already back at work by Thursday after meetings involving the general manager and workforce-development partners.
Assistant General Manager Dave (staff) and Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for Power, described the issue as part of a larger statewide question about which classifications may perform solar installation work. Hale told commissioners that 20 applications for green financing had been submitted and that roughly $560,000 in requests were in the pipeline but that some approvals had been paused while the lien‑priority discussion with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued.
Staff said the Sunset dispute involved a grievance by the electricians union that certain tasks performed by laborers should have been classified as electricians’ work. After talks among contractors, unions and workforce partners, staff reported laborers returned to work on the site and that staff expected to bring related City Hall and Davies contracts back to the commission by the second meeting in July once classifications and contractor arrangements were worked out.
The commission took no immediate action on the public comment; staff said they would continue coordination with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, CityBuild and workforce partners and planned to report back with contract language and next steps.
Next step: staff expects to return the City Hall and Davies solar contracts to the commission in July after resolving classification and local‑hire details and said it will continue to monitor and report on local‑hire hours for the Sunset project as it winds down.
