With little discussion or public comment, the Planning Commission just moved forward the city’s long-term effort to take over PG&E’s infrastructure and create a public power system.
The commission, down to four members since Board President Rafael Mandelman hasn’t filled three vacancies, voted unanimously to certify the environmental impact report on the project.
That’s just one step in a long path forward, and PG&E could appeal the approval to the Board of Supes, but the lack of controversy sends a signal that Mayor Daniel Lurie isn’t actively opposing the concept.
A representative of the Coalition of California Utility Employees, which is run by PG&E’s house union, IBEW Local 1245, testified against the EIR. Local 1245 has always opposed public power in San Francisco, arguing that PG&E workers get a better deal with their private company.
There is no way any public power project could move forward in San Francisco unless every PG&E worker who moves over to the city keeps their full pay and benefits.
There wasn’t much to argue about: The EIR looks only at the physical impacts of separating San Francisco from PG&E’s grid and installing new utility lines and circuit breakers. But EIRs are complicated documents, and one pro-PG&E commissioner could have found a reason to dissent, sending the whole process back to the drawing board.
Instead, assuming the supes don’t derail it, the SF Public Utilities Commission can move forward on offering PG&E $3.4 billion for the system. Since the utility is unlikely to accept, the city will need to file eminent domain proceedings, kicking off a legal process that could take several years.
Of course, if the city had started this process decades ago, electricity rates would be lower, blackouts rarer, and power cleaner—and San Francisco would net hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The longer we delay the more PG&E takes out of our pockets, and out of the city.
