By Bruce Wolfe, HANC Vice-President
CleanPower SF (CPSF)) finally made it over the hurdle with Mayor Ed Lee's blessing and the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) approving the not-to-exceed (NTE) electric rates.
The Commission’s approval action establishes that CPSF rates will not exceed the standard power rates of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) which – until CPSF launches early next year – is the monopoly provider of energy to San Francisco customers.
Recently, many San Franciscans, including Haight Ashbury voters, received an automated push-poll asking questions about the performance of President Obama, Mayor Ed Lee, Board of Supervisors and SFPUC. Usually, this would seem ordinary but on this occasion quite odd to many residents who reported the focus was specifically on utilities, rates and clean energy.
City Hall rumblings indicate that distance is being made from PG&E, investor-owned utilities (IOU) and its affiliates, which may include the IBEW 1245 union. This is the union that led the charge to kill CPSF last summer with AB 2145. Recently, SEIU 1021 came out in support of our CleanPower SF program speaking at recent press conference at City Hall. HANC was instrumental in defeating this bill by preventing its presentation on the floor of the California Senate. The bill had been passed by the Assembly with a high majority after being spun a slick sales pitch by its author, Steven Bradford (D, Gardena), a former Big Utility consultant. PG&E, if you remember, also foisted Prop 16 on voters in 2010, spending a whopping $46 million, reported to be the most ever spent on a California ballot initiative. HANC was also a party to defeating Prop 16. This push poll was right out of the IOUs, Hunter Stern & IBEW 1245, and Scott Wetch & California Assn of Electrical Workers' playbook.
Now, this new push poll is asking questions right out of the AB 2145 playbook focusing on items like:
- Green House Gas (GHG) reporting that is not a current standard and meant to make it hard for any Community Choice Energy (CCE) program to comply. Respond NO
- Use of Renewable Energy Credits (REC) that must only be purchased in California, which is a non-starter since all new CCE programs will not be making much use of RECs anyway. Respond NO
- Despite state policy analysis and directives, the poll continues to challenge our city's self-determination to provide cheaper, cleaner electric rates and enroll everyone in CleanPower SF. This just continues to perpetuate the energy monopoly. When asked whether there should be automatic enrollment with an option to opt-out, Respond YES
Don't be fooled by the push poll but do participate so they get enough negative responses to potentially drop the whole effort. If you received any phone calls or literature on CPSF, please notify HANC at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
For more information and to sign up early, go to http://CleanPowerSF.org