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Committee backs PUC authority to sign multi-year Clean Power SF contracts; adds reporting safeguards
Summary
Supervisors endorsed amendments granting the SFPUC general manager limited authority to execute long-term power and credit agreements for Clean Power SF, with required annual reporting to the Board; the ordinance advances to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
The Budget & Finance Committee on Dec. 12 voted to send an ordinance to the full Board that would let the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager enter into power-supply contracts and a credit facility for Clean Power SF without further Board approval — subject to limits and additional reporting requirements.
Barb Hale of the SFPUC said Clean Power SF, the city's community-choice aggregation program, launched in May 2016 and currently serves about 80,000 accounts. The program operates two product offerings — a 40 percent renewable option and a higher‑renewable “super green” tier — and PUC staff said it is pursuing additional suppliers and a bank credit facility to enable expected citywide enrollment by mid‑2019. Hale told the committee the PUC needs delegated contracting authority to act quickly in a dynamic market and to secure competitive pricing.
Sevin Campbell of the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office described the ordinance's effect: it would approve standard forms of power agreements, waive certain contracting provisions, and permit the general manager to finalize contracts for energy supply and for a credit facility. Because the ordinance waives some standard city contracting procedures and the Board’s usual charter authority, the BLA recommended requiring annual PUC reports that disclose program costs, rates charged to Clean Power customers and comparisons with PG&E rates.
Public comment included multiple speakers — Clean Power customers and representatives of Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch and local climate and energy groups — who urged approval so the PUC can scale the program, invest in local renewables and lock in competitive terms.
Supervisor Tang offered a package of amendments (including the reporting language and conditions the PUC Commission requested), and the committee accepted those amendments. As amended, the committee sent the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation.
Next steps: the ordinance will go to the full Board for final consideration; the BLA’s recommended annual reporting requirement was added to the resolution as part of the committee amendments.
