What San Francisco is doing next in its transition to public power

The City of San Francisco has continued to move diligently forward with its transition to public power since making its initial offer to purchase PG&E’s local electric grid in 2019. The latest step is the City’s initiation of public review of the acquisition under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Read more below about this process and how it fits into the City’s steady progress toward owning and operating our local power system.

Why is San Francisco conducting a CEQA review of local power assets?

After making several offers to purchase San Francisco’s local electric grid since 2019—only to have PG&E claim the price was “too low” or its assets were “not for sale”—the City has taken several steps to move ahead with its transition to public power, something it has full authority under the state Constitution to do.

In July 2021, the City filed a petition with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), asking the state to assess the value of the local grid and make a determination over the next year of what a fair price should be.

As the CPUC begins this process, the City has initiated public review of the acquisition under CEQA. This review will assess the environmental impacts of the City taking over PG&E’s electric infrastructure, and the work needed to separate City and PG&E infrastructure.

Does the City expect PG&E to fight the acquisition through CEQA as well?

Unfortunately, yes. PG&E has been a difficult partner for years. It’s one of the major reasons the City is making the move to public power.

After San Francisco began moving forward with plans to acquire the local grid, PG&E has only gotten more aggressive in obstructing the City’s local power system: As detailed recently by the San Francisco Chronicle, the utility is trying to impose billions of dollars in unnecessary service charges on the City, by requiring expensive, unneeded equipment to deliver power to a range of public services, from streetlights to Muni stops.

PG&E obstruction has also blocked progress on many other priority projects—causing years of delays and adding millions of dollars to the cost of affordable housing, school construction, public parks, and other community projects.

Are there environmental reasons for making the shift to public power?

Yes, there is no shortage of good reasons for making the shift to public power—and accelerating progress toward the City’s clean energy goals is definitely one of them.

First, public power will be more affordable than today’s PG&E’s system, with its shareholder payments, profits, corporate salaries, and bonuses—not to mention tens of billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities.

Second, public power will be safer and more reliable. At a time when PG&E has neglected electric facilities across the state—and is planning to raise rates to pay for all of the damage it has caused—San Francisco routinely makes investments in its Hetch Hetchy Power system and 380,000 local customers and growing have joined CleanPowerSF.

Ultimately, shifting to public power is also the best choice for the environment. San Francisco has set some of the country’s most aggressive climate goals—including a target of moving to 100% renewable energy by 2030—but PG&E’s obstruction and delays are likely to prevent the City from reaching these targets. This will have a real environmental cost, and it’s something San Francisco just can’t afford.

What can the City do to stop PG&E’s obstruction?

The best way forward is for the City to purchase the remainder of the local power system and operate it locally.

Once San Francisco provides all of its own power and operates its own grid, it will have much more control over modernizing the electric system and promoting programs that provide clean, green electricity for everything from decarbonized buildings to a carbon-free transportation system.

The City has a 100-year history of providing power safely, affordably, and reliably—in stark contrast to PG&E’s long record of safety failures, bankruptcy, and rising electric rates.

The time has come for the City to manage its own electric system—without PG&E interference—reinvest revenues back into the system and provide San Franciscans with the clean power and accountable energy service they deserve.

Read more about the Our City, Our Power campaign here: https://www.publicpowersf.org/en/faq