Emergency! Turn-Out Tomorrow! For a strong CleanPowerSF program to
compete -immediately- with PG&E!
SF City Hall Rm 250, 2pm (from Civic Center BART station cross United
Nations Plaza to City Hall)
(See note on Talking Points further below.)
Hi all,
The San Francisco community choice project, CleanPowerSF, is in final
contract negotiations, and its potential powerful ability to compete
with PG&E is one of the key reasons that PG&E placed Prop 16 on the
ballot. If a strong contract is signed by the end of May (before the
vote on Prop 16) it will give us powerful leverage, starting with San
Francisco, with which to beat back PG&E -regardless- of what happens on
June 8th.
However, the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is suddenly (as of
today) -again- playing games and is trying to delay a final full
contract from being completed and signed until -after- June 8th. The
SFPUC is claiming that it is too risky to try to get a full project
funded and under contract because Prop 16 might scare financiers into
taking a conservative position on buying/selling bonds for the project.
So the SFPUC is instead proposing a weak preliminary contract which will
not establish crucial details such as project electricity rates until
after the election. Such a weak, incomplete contract, with no customer
notices sent out before the election, could strengthen PG&E's hand to
call for a 2/3rds vote on CleanPowerSF if Prop 16 passes.
The SFPUC has used this same ploy of claiming there is supposedly too
much financial risk to start the project -repeatedly- over the past
decade to delay CleanPowerSF, time after time, year after year. Note
that SFPUC is saying exactly what PG&E is saying - "Too Risky". Since
the SFPUC's director for CleanPowerSF, Michael Campbell, worked for PG&E
until just two months before being hired by the SFPUC, this all too
familiar 'too risky' argument from the SFPUC is not surprising.
A key SF City Hall decision maker, and ally to us, is not buying SFPUC's
hype, and has just urgently asked that we turn out IN FORCE in San
Francisco tomorrow to -demand- that the SFPUC stop its games and delays,
and finalize a full, real, and strong CleanPowerSF contract by the end
of May so that we can gain crucial leverage against PG&E.
*
Talking Points Attached!
*Please see the attached coalition letter just sent to SF City Hall
decision makers this morning (Earth Day) for talking points that you can
use at tomorrow's meeting to demand a strong CleanPowerSF contract.
The hearing is a special joint meeting of the SFPUC and SF Local Agency
Formation Commission (LAFCo). Here are the details:
*LAFCo Special Joint Meeting with the
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Friday, April 23, 2010, at 2:00 p.m.
City Hall, Legislative Chamber, Room 250
*
ORDER OF BUSINESS
1. Call to Order
(LAFCo Chairperson Ross Mirkarimi & SFPUC President F.X. Crowley)
2. Roll Call
JOINT REGULAR BUSINESS
3. Opening Remarks and Discussion of Expectations for the Joint Meeting
(Chairperson Mirkarimi & President Crowley)
4. Hearing on CCA Status Report
1. Negotiations with Potential ESP Provider
2. Service Agreement with PG&E
(Discussion and Action Item)
