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San Francisco LAFCO urges action to keep Clean Power SF alive amid PUC delays
Summary
LAFCO heard a lengthy update on Clean Power SF, pressed SFPUC staff on revised customer rates and local-build plans, and directed staff to draft a letter responding to the mayor’s comments and to explore partner options including Marin’s JPA.
The Local Area Formation Commission of the City and County of San Francisco on an information item pressed San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff to keep the Clean Power SF community choice aggregation program moving and asked staff to draft a letter responding to the mayor’s recent remarks.
Commission Chair John Avelos opened the discussion by saying the mayor’s August comments contained "misinformation" about the program and that some California Public Utilities Commission commissioners appeared intent to "kill this program." He told SFPUC staff the commission and the Board of Supervisors want the program to proceed and asked SFPUC staff to respond to a letter of inquiry LAFCO had issued.
SFPUC Clean Power SF Director Kim Malcolm said staff had lowered the proposed not-to-exceed customer rate to $0.115 per kilowatt-hour from earlier figures, citing changes to the resource mix, cuts to internal budgets, market movement and contract concessions from Shell, including about $1,000,000 less collateral in year one and $500,000 less in year two. "We got the not to exceed rate that we proposed down to $0.115," Malcolm said.
Assistant General Manager for Power Barbara Hale told commissioners the utility faces substantial deferred capital needs following the Rim Fire and that some shared Hetch Hetchy assets are apportioned 55% to power and 45% to water. She said estimates for immediate unfunded recovery and repairs are about $40,000,000 and that a single tunnel improvement could cost between $350,000,000 and $450,000,000. Hale said options to address the shortfall include raising rates or increasing load by serving new municipal or commercial customers in redevelopment areas.
Commissioners and staff also discussed competitiveness versus PG&E. Malcolm and staff said PG&E’s proposed green tariff might yield a January rate near $0.09 but that the PG&E product remains under CPUC review and is not final. Jason Fried, LAFCO staff, warned commissioners not to assume the PG&E green tariff will be adopted: "It's not actually a green tariff program yet... it is still on hold and it still has to go through an entire process at the CPUC."
Several commissioners urged a faster, more aggressive approach. Commissioner London Breed said LAFCO and the Board of Supervisors have given direction to keep the program moving and pressed staff to develop the local-build plan and pursue alternatives that could make Clean Power SF competitive while protecting funds needed for SFPUC recovery work.
Public commenters — including Shawn Marshall of the Local Energy Aggregation Network, Al Weinreb of the Local Clean Energy Alliance, and advocates from the Sierra Club and other local groups — urged LAFCO to step in, fund missing build-out work if necessary, and explore options such as joining or partnering with Marin’s JPA (Marin Energy Authority) or contracting out the build-out study. Shawn Marshall told the commission Marin has served customers outside its county and that San Francisco could "decide that it could want to join the JPA that is up in Marin."
Commissioners agreed as a next step to have staff draft a letter responding to the mayor’s statements and to investigate partner and legal options (including the Marin JPA and Richmond’s joining process). Jason Fried said staff could research legal constraints and the Marin process and aim to report back at a future meeting.
The meeting produced two formal, recorded actions: approval of the prior meeting minutes (motion by Commissioner Marr, second by Commissioner Bridal; approved without objection) and a consensus request for staff to draft a letter to the mayor and explore partnership options and legal pathways for potential JPA membership. The commission recessed briefly and then adjourned.
The commission did not take a vote to set any Clean Power SF rates during the meeting; staff and commissioners characterized next steps as staff research, outreach and potential follow-up to the Board of Supervisors and the Public Utilities Commission.
