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Supervisors reserve GoSolar SF funding; debate centers on job counts and program priorities
Summary
The committee agreed to carry $3 million forward for GoSolar SF next year plus roughly $1.2 million in unspent funds, after lengthy debate between PUC staff, OEWD and public commenters over how many jobs the program created, workforce retention, and whether money should shift toward energy-efficiency measures.
After extended discussion and more than a dozen public remarks, the Budget & Finance Committee directed the Public Utilities Commission to fund GoSolar SF at $3,000,000 for the coming year and to carry forward roughly $1,200,000 in unspent incentive funds from the current year, while asking PUC staff to pursue energy-efficiency, workforce-development and local-hire strategies.
PUC General Manager Ed Harrington told the committee that GoSolar SF had been budgeted at $5 million per year in its early years. He said roughly $13.3 million in projects had been requested over the three-year period and that only about $1.3 million remained available "as of today." Harrington and assistant managers described the program’s workforce records as limited: the PUC has documented 72 placements of disadvantaged workers through GoSolar SF (13 this fiscal year), with 23 of those still employed, numbers compiled from vendors and installers.
Jason Elliott of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development told the committee that the several-hundred (400–500) jobs figure circulating in some analyses referred to the broader solar sector in the city and is not limited to GoSolar SF-funded positions. "The number funded by GoSolar is 72 people that have been referred and placed through that program," Elliott said. He cautioned that the larger 400–500 figure represents a broader count of solar-sector employment in San Francisco, not placements attributable to the city incentive.
Several installers and workers testified in support of the program and urged full funding. Janine Cotter, co-founder of Luminalt, said her company grew from four to about 20 employees since GoSolar SF started and that six of her hires came through GoSolarSF workforce-development channels. Monique Washington, a trainee turned installer, described the program as transformational: "GoSolar SF gave me an opportunity to not only change my life, but to build a career in the solar industry," she said.
Supervisors asked the PUC to improve tracking of workforce outcomes and to consider shifting some emphasis to energy-efficiency measures that staff said can produce broader near-term greenhouse-gas reductions. The committee left program funding intact for the next year while directing further reporting and follow-up.
