After years of PG&E obstruction, San Francisco is taking the next step for full public power.
For over 100 years, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has provided electricity to all City buildings and some of our biggest public assets like our airport, general hospital, and Muni. Through the power generated by the Hetch Hetchy System and provided by CleanPowerSF, SFPUC already provides more than 70% of the electricity used in the City.
But that public power still runs through the power grid that PG&E controls in San Francisco—and we’re paying a big price for their monopoly. The corporation has imposed millions of dollars on the City by requiring expensive and unnecessary equipment to deliver public power, including raising the cost of all streetlight connections by up to $1 million. And that’s just the latest attack from PG&E, with over 70 public projects from affordable housing developments to new clinics and park spaces facing years of delays due to obstruction from PG&E.
These delays on our biggest priorities can’t continue.
In 2019, as PG&E declared bankruptcy, San Francisco put forward a fair offer to purchase PG&E’s local electrical assets. They refused to engage our offer despite carrying a crushing level of corporate debt.
Now, San Francisco is taking the next step in our transition to full public power by calling for an independent state valuation of PG&E’s local electric assets. It’s now up to the California Public Utilities Commission— PG&E’s state regulator—to determine the value of PG&E’s electrical infrastructure in San Francisco.
San Francisco is united like never before behind full public power. Mayor London Breed, the full Board of Supervisors, and 70% of San Franciscans agree: It’s our City, it’s our power, and it’s time.
