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SFPUC updates Clean Power SF: enrollment grows, new long‑term contracts announced
Summary
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission director Mike Himes told LAFCO the Clean Power SF program has about 81,000 active accounts, a 3.2% opt‑out rate and plans to enroll roughly 27,000 additional accounts starting in July; he announced new long‑term power purchase agreements and said a California PUC decision on the PCIA exit fee is expected as early as August.
Mike Himes, director of Clean Power SF at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, briefed the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission on May 18, saying the program currently serves about 81,000 active accounts, with an opt‑out rate of roughly 3.2 percent and a 4.3 percent opt‑up rate for the program’s "super green" product.
Himes said the program is preparing a new enrollment phase that will add about 27,000 accounts, principally commercial customers, starting in July; customer notification notices required under state law are being issued in multiple rounds beginning the week prior to the meeting. He described procurement progress and said Clean Power SF is largely contracted to meet near‑term demand for 2018 and 2019.
On power content, Himes reported Clean Power SF’s 2017 delivered product was 43 percent California‑certified renewable for the default product and the green product’s portfolio was about 81 percent greenhouse‑gas‑free in a normal water year, with the super green product delivered as 100 percent greenhouse‑gas‑free. He cautioned that hydro conditions vary by year and affect delivered renewable shares.
Himes also updated the commission on three power purchase agreements the PUC has executed: a 22‑year agreement for a 100‑megawatt solar facility to be built in Lancaster, California; a 15‑year agreement for roughly 47 megawatts of replacement wind capacity in the Tehachapi/Mojave area; and a 4.5‑year arrangement to purchase geothermal energy from The Geysers in Sonoma County. He said the solar facility is expected to be online around February 2020, and the wind deliveries are anticipated to start at the end of 2020.
On regulatory matters, Himes said hearings in the California Public Utilities Commission proceeding on the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA, the so‑called exit fee) concluded recently; the parties will file briefs in June and a proposed decision could issue as early as August, although the schedule is aggressive and may slip.
Public comment included Eric Brooks of the San Francisco Green Party and other local advocacy groups, who praised the presentation but urged LAFCO and the SFPUC to plan for a more aggressive timeline for decarbonizing transportation (citing 2035 as a target year) and questioned whether long‑term PPAs must be as common as industry practice suggests.
The SFPUC presentation was informational; no formal action was taken by LAFCO on the Clean Power SF update at the May 18 meeting.
