LAFCO urges 11.5¢ cap as SFPUC weighs Clean Power SF not-to-exceed rate amid labor concerns

San Francisco — At a joint meeting of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Local Agency Formation Commission on July 9, staff presented a revised not-to-exceed rate ceiling for the Clean Power SF Community Choice Aggregation program and outlined program design, funding for local build-out and outreach plans. LAFCO adopted an advisory resolution recommending a not-to-exceed rate of 11.5¢ per kilowatt-hour while the PUC delayed a final vote to continue labor discussions.

John Avalos, chair of the Local Agency Formation Commission, opened the meeting by stressing that the session would not approve a procurement contract with Shell Energy but would focus on setting a rate ceiling and next steps. "This is not the approval of a contract with Shell," he said, framing the action as setting a ceiling for possible future customer rates.

Kim Malcolm, director of Clean Power SF, walked commissioners through program history and the staff-revised numbers. She said the earlier modeled rate of 14.57¢ had been reduced through budget cuts, sourcing strategies (including REX purchases) and changes to the revenue requirement; staff proposed a not-to-exceed ceiling of 11.9¢ and said launch-day rates could be below 11¢ under current assumptions. "Today, it's 11.9¢ as we proposed it," Malcolm said, and staff also presented a plan showing an…