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SFPUC narrows renewable consulting contract to 1-year initial term, requires annual work plans
Summary
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission amended and approved a professional services procurement to support renewable projects, changing the term to an initial one-year contract with up to six one-year extensions and requiring an annual work plan tied to measurable objectives.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 24 approved selection of professional services contracts to support a broad renewable energy program, but amended the proposed contract structure to an initial one-year term with annual reauthorization for up to six additional one-year extensions.
Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for Power, told the commission the contracts would provide technical and project-development support for solar (including building-integrated thin-film PV), wind, solar thermal, fuel cells and monitoring, and would aid development of power purchase agreement documents for municipal load and potential Hunters Point loads. The staff presentation described the contracts as covering project assessment, environmental support, construction management and financial services.
Commissioners said they wanted sharper focus and measurable early results rather than a five-year open-ended commitment. Several commissioners urged the utility to prioritize rapid deployment of renewables — one commissioner referenced a target of getting 31 megawatts of solar installed as soon as practicable — and to use the consultant contracts to accelerate near-term commercial projects as well as longer-term research-and-development work.
In response the commission approved an amendment to the resolution: the initial contract term will be one year, with the resolution authorizing up to six annual extensions subject to commission reauthorization each year. The amended motion also requires staff to present a concise work plan of first-year objectives and task orders that define specific deliverables tied to each option-year decision.
Commissioners and staff agreed community choice aggregation (CCA) is funded separately and may be supported by other funding streams; staff said the procured consultants could nonetheless be used to support multiple program tracks including Hunters Point, municipal portfolio projects and the Clean Water Master Plan energy-efficiency needs.
The commission voted to approve the amended contract structure; staff committed to bring a focused one-page objectives plan to the commission within the year for review and to include task orders that specify annual work. The vote was recorded as carried by voice ('Aye').
Next steps: staff will prepare the required one-year objectives plan and return with task orders and contract documents consistent with the approved amendment.
