Committee approves release of initial funds for PUC substation mitigation project

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee on Wednesday approved releasing $375,000 in reserve funds to begin planning, design and environmental review for a Public Utilities Commission (PUC) power-system impact mitigation project tied to substation upgrades.

Steve Ritchie, assistant general manager for water at the PUC, told the committee the mitigation program is intended to protect PUC facilities as new electric-generation projects connect to the grid and said, “Ultimately, we expect that to cost on the order of about $6,400,000.” Ritchie said the work will include replacing transformers and other equipment to protect PUC facilities.

In its report, the committee's budget analyst (Mr. Rose) listed the project budget at roughly $6,435,000 and said the PUC already collected about $3.1 million in mitigation revenues from four projects. The analyst recommended releasing $375,000 for assessment, design and environmental review while retaining the remaining reserves pending submission of revenue and expenditure details related to construction.

The committee took the action by motion and, with no public comment, moved the item forward to the full Board (the committee proceeded without objection). The clerk noted items acted on today will appear on the Board of Supervisors agenda on Nov. 18 unless otherwise stated.

Clarifying details provided during the meeting included the PUC's estimate of total mitigation costs and the budget analyst's recommendation to retain most reserves until construction funding details are submitted. The transcript contains inconsistent spellings for the substation (the item referenced the Waterville substation in the initial item description and other variants in the analyst's remarks); the committee record directs further documentation from PUC before additional reserves are released.