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Advocates and unions urge robust local buildout for Clean Power SF; unions warn Shell contract risks local jobs
Summary
Public commenters — environmental groups, local clean‑energy advocates and labor unions — urged an aggressive local‑build plan at launch and warned high customer premiums would lead to large opt‑outs. IBEW 1245 and other labor speakers said contracting to Shell without a clear local‑build program risks displacement of local utility jobs.
At the joint meeting, dozens of public speakers urged commissioners to make local buildout a firm, early priority for Clean Power SF and to keep rates affordable to avoid large opt‑out rates.
Advocates and environmental groups argued that a detailed business plan should accompany program launch. "That build out plan has to be able to talk about the amount of investment ... the number of jobs that investment generates," said a public advocate representing local groups. Several speakers pointed to other community choice aggregations (Cincinnati, Marin, Chicago) as examples where CCAs launched with competitive rates and local benefits.
Labor’s concerns about contracting and jobs
Union speakers focused on employment impacts and contract structure. "Under this proposal, you are contracting their work out to Shell Oil. That is our objection," Hunter Stern of IBEW 1245 said, accusing the current procurement approach of outsourcing work that union members perform and potentially reducing local jobs. Laborers Local 261 asked three specific questions: will the program create jobs for their members, how many jobs, and where and when will the jobs be generated.
PUC staff and some commissioners responded that the city’s economist report did not model local investment and therefore understated potential job gains tied to a local buildout. Staff reiterated the need to develop an integrated resource plan and an action‑oriented outline for local buildout, including financing, job estimates and greenhouse gas reductions.
Public recommendations and next steps
Speakers and commissioners repeatedly called for tangible deliverables: a peer review of the local‑build plan, scenario analyses that show how rate choices affect bonding capacity and clear targets for jobs and local investment. Several speakers warned that high opt‑out rates in Phase 1 could permanently shrink the customer base and undermine later expansion.
Commissioners and staff agreed to return with a more concrete outline and scenario analyses by a follow‑up hearing targeted for April 23.
