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)