#cleanpowersf

by Woody Hastings  |   September 30, 2015

Can you say “all oars rowing in the same direction?”

On Friday, September 25, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and Local Agency Formation Commission held a joint meeting to hear the latest from their respective staffs about plans and timelines for moving forward with the Community Choice program for San Francisco – CleanPowerSF.

As one after another commissioner at the joint meeting questioned why there is a new estimated six-week delay in the timeline, it became clear that there is no resistance whatsoever to moving forward on CleanPowerSF. The line-up of ten public speakers, every one of them with a message of “move forward quickly,” further confirmed the unanimity of purpose.

The delay, which is not expected to push the anticipated Spring 2016 program launch back, is only reflective of a tendency on the part of staff to dot every “i” and cross every “t” as they proceed, aiming to offer “affordable and reliable” service that is significantly cleaner than the power mix PG&E offers.

Part of the delay is due to the fact that they received not just 10, 20, 30, or even 40 responses to their Request for Proposals – they received 52 responses from credible energy service providers! And that high number of responses requires more time for adequate review. Having a large number of responses opens up many opportunities for cost savings and clean power.

The folks in San Francisco have consulted Sonoma Clean Power and Marin Clean Energy extensively on how they rolled out their programs. Although CleanPowerSF is echoing many of what both of those Community Choice trailblazers did, there will be a key variation in the launch of CleanPowerSF. CleanPowerSF is first, prior to program launch, formally and aggressively marketing its “SuperGreen” 100% renewable energy product, similar to Sonoma Clean Power’s “EverGreen” product. Doing this, according to SFPUC General Manager Harlan Kelly, will give CleanPowerSF a chance to obtain upwards of 14% enrollment for the premium product, compared to many other similar programs that gain enrollments only in the single digits. 220 people have already enrolled, according to SFPUC Assistant General Manager Barbara Hale.

Although no formal action was taken, the direction to staff was to continue pursuing the program as quickly as possible. Part of the urgency is based on the fact that PG&E plans to offer its own “green” product, probably sometime in the next six months.

That San Francisco is launching a Community Choice program is a big deal. When CleanPowerSF goes live, it will send community power energizing ripples throughout the State. After over ten years of effort in the City by the Bay, it’s heartening to see all oars, at long last, rowing in the same direction. Stay tuned for future blogs on this topic.

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The mayor who cried PG&E: Lee’s new bid

Have you heard about this "Stop San Francisco Shell Shock"? If you live in the City and you use Facebook, google, or Pandora, odds are you've probably seen these misleading ads. In a nutshell, this is a last ditch attempt by PG&E’s union to block CleanPowerSF--the program to give San Franciscans the choice of buying 100% clean energy. CleanPowerSF is the single biggest step the City can take to directly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change, and PG&E’s gang is doing everything they can to stop it. Here's the super short version: - Do you want to have the option of switching to 100% renewable electricity? If so, you should support CleanPowerSF. Here’s the Facebook page to find out more: http://www.facebook.com/IHeartCleanPowerSF - Or would you rather continue PG&E's monopoly on electricity service in the City and continue to have no choice except to buy their dirty energy? If so, then forget about CleanPowerSF and feel free to click on those misleading "Stop the Shell Shock" ads. When we try to figure out complicated or obscure local political arguments, we like to start by looking at who is supporting which side. This one is pretty clear: Who Supports CleanPowerSF? 350.org SF Bay Area Sierra Club SF League of Conservation Voters World Wildlife Fund 350 Bay Area SF Organizing for America Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano John Avalos, David Campos, David Chiu, Jane Kim, Eric Mar, Ross Mirkarimi, Scott Wiener  And of course, the League of Pissed Off Voters! And Who Opposes CleanPowerSF? IBEW Local 1245 (Union of PG&E employees) Mayor Ed Lee (who says PG&E is "a great corporation") Carmen Chu, Sean Elsbernd, Mark Farrell And that's about it. But Doesn't Shell Suck? Yes, unfortunately the initial contract for CleanPowerSF is with Shell, which is a big ugly energy corporation. BUT: - Shell's only role is to buy 100% renewable electricity for us on the wholesale market and deliver it to the City. None of our money will go to fossil fuels. - The wholesale electricity market is big and complicated and unfortunately full of shady corporations. Shell was the only company willing to take on this first phase of setting up the contracts to buy 20 megawatts of clean energy.   - This is a short-term (4.5 years) contract to get CleanPowerSF up and running. After that, the Public Utilities Commission can either take over the program themselves or make a new contract with someone else. What's Happening with CleanPowerSF Now?

Unfortunately, nothing. The Board of Supervisors approved the contract back in last September. The last step that needs to happen is the Public Utilities Commission needs to approve the maximum rate for CleanPowerSF. But, the PUC commissioners are all appointed by the Mayor--friend of PG&E who opposes CleanPowerSF--and he's been leaning on them hard to stall or kill the program.  But it's getting harder and harder for them to delay. The PUC staff has dramatically improved the program since the Supervisors originally approved the contract last year: the price has decreased dramatically while also dedicating more money to building local renewable energy sources.   

What Can You do to Help?

Email the Public Utilities Commission (and please CC us and the Board of Supervisors!) and tell them to quit messing around and approve the "not-to-exceed" rates for CleanPowerSF! Seriously, email them now! They're voting Tuesday, August 13th at 1:30 p.m. Here's our email you can use as an example:

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To: Public Utilities Commission ([email protected]), Board of Supervisors ([email protected]), League of Pissed Off Voters ([email protected])  Dear Public Utilities Commission,

Please vote to approve the proposed not-to-exceed rate for CleanPowerSF at your August 13th meeting. It’s been almost a year since the Board of Supervisors approved the contract for CleanPowerSF! Since then, you have discussed and deliberated and debated these rates to death. We understand you have concerns about what mix of renewable energy CleanPowerSF will have, where the energy will come from, and how much local power generation we’ll be able to build. We’re concerned about all that too. But here’s the thing: we can’t make progress on any of that until you approve the dang not-to-exceed rates! 

So please, no more splitting hairs or speculating on the future details of the program. Approve the not-to-exceed rates. That will give the Board of Supervisors their opportunity to evaluate the rates, and then the City can FINALLY sign the contract and get on to implementing CleanPowerSF. Once that happens, we’ll be right there with you to make sure we’re building as much green power as we can, as quickly as we can, with local, union labor. 

The threats of global climate change are too dire and too imminent for any further delay or debate. CleanPowerSF is the single biggest step we can take as a City to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and set an example for the rest of the country. Please approve the not-to-exceed rates for CleanPowerSF and let’s make this happen!