Hey all, Vote Solar just proudly announced its successful fundraising event 'Equinox 2' in which, among its major donors, were PG&E (top donor), Edison, Chevron and BP. see http://www.votesolar.org/equinox2/thank_you/ and also the previous year's Equinox fundraiser at http://www.votesolar.org/equinox/thank_you/ Vote Solar is the organization (founded by now SFPUC Commissioner David Hochschild) which also put forward the poorly written solar Prop B in 2001 for 50 mw of solar on City facilities. Prop B passed, but failed to implement because of its poor funding plan combined with the fact that the SFPUC made no effort to find a way to make it work. No solar facilities were ever built through Prop B, although Vote Solar's web site blatantly and falsely claims otherwise. (See http://www.votesolar.org/city-initiatives/successes.html ) David Hochschild is the architect of the Mayor's privatized solar proposals. Vote Solar has been one of the most vocal proponents of the Mayor's proposals. Though Hochschild is no longer with Vote Solar, he spoke and hobnobbed at the Equinox fundraiser. As did Phil Ting (who helped Hochschild create and sponsor the Mayor's solar program and who received an award at the event for that involvement). Also present was Mayor Newsom himself, Assemblymember Mark Leno (who has frequently sponsored milquetoast renewable energy legislation which has basically amounted to faux stuff that allows PG&E to remain dominant in our Northwest power market) and, Adam Werbach, the new greenwash champion for Walmart and Wall Street.. David Hochschild -is- however VP for External Relations for Solaria Corp., a private solar technologies company which is one of those proud new Equinox funders of Vote Solar. I didn't even notice the note on Hochschild's corporate position when I saw the press release for his appointment to the SFPUC last year, but now that I've picked up on it I'm pretty shocked. Someone with that kind of energy corporation conflict of interest should not have even made it onto the SFPUC commission in the first place, and should certainly at the very least be recusing himself on all votes related to solar power funding. This all puts into even starker contrast the fact that, although Hochschild has vociferously upbraided the SFPUC staff for not creating solar and other renewables programs in San Francisco, he has never once in those tirades mentioned the Community Choice renewable energy project, which would have already been out for bids long ago were it not for both constant interference from the SFPUC staff, and a resolute and total lack of support from the SFPUC commissioners themselves (including former commissioner Adam Werbach). It has become clear that Hochschild and is his ilk are nothing more than the next generation of private corporate developers manipulating their way into sweetheart deals for their own companies at the expense of the public good, while steering city government away from publicly owned energy projects, into cozy and corrupt 'public/private partnerships'. I would have thought that the visionary renewable energy industry could have avoided this typical, tawdry trough feeding. I guess I was wrong. peace Eric -- "I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves." – Che Guevara