San Francisco Poised to Offer Community Choice

Public power advocates urged San Francisco to quickly deliver its plan to implement community-choice aggregation at a Local Agency Formation Commission hearing February 4. Twenty-two cities are looking to San Francisco to move on community aggregation, said Paul Fenn, Local Power executive director. San Francisco approved an ordinance calling for an implementation blueprint last May, he noted. As a single large consumer, the city would attain local control over energy procurement, a goal long prized by public power supporters. In addition, cities could increase their purchase of renewables without a rate increase, according to a recent study funded by the California Energy Commission and cited by activists. Pacific Gas & Electric still would deliver electricity under this arrangement. The time to act is now, admonished Fenn. State regulators gave the nod for investor-owned utilities to sign long-term power contracts in December. Utilities need to see a commitment to municipal load or else they will procure for these customers and lock in supplies, he said. Barbara Hale, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission assistant general manager for power services, gave assurances that the plan would be ready in April and laid out its broad contours. Several San Francisco Board of Supervisors members said they want her agency to hone in more on renewables options. Hale predicted that initially customers opting for community choice would not likely see lower costs than bundled customers, in part because of exit fees. Over time, she said, electric bills would be equal to or less than what customers currently see. Hale, who oversaw the California Public Utilities Commission?s Strategic Planning Division for more than a decade, moved to San Francisco?s PUC in October. The veteran regulator was initially tapped as power policy director, then promoted to her current position, taking over from Ed Smeloff. ?The average person won?t go out of their way to mess with their bills? and switch to community choice if they don?t see potential savings, predicted Robin David, labor activist and former PG&E employee. The utility will hammer away at the idea that costs will jump, he said. In fact, PG&E has disputed a recent study for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District that finds that annexation of 85,000 PG&E customers to SMUD would cut electric bills ( Circuit , Feb. 4, 2005). The utility contends that the study relies on faulty forecast data.

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San Francisco Poised to Offer Community Choice

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