FRANCESCA VIETOR, PRESIDENT PAUL OKAMOTO
STEVEN KREFTING, VICE PRESIDENT LINDA RICHARDSON
ANNE LEE ENG CHRISTINE RUSSELL
REBECCA EVANS
ORDER OF BUSINESS
December 9, 1997
6 p.m.
Room 207, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco
1. Call to Order and Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Regular Meeting of November 12, 1997
ACTION
3. Consent Calendar - No items.
REGULAR CALENDAR
4. Chemical Exemption Requests - None.
5. Communications - Hearing on San Francisco Water Issues: A Brief
Overview
Steve Ritchie, Manager, System Planning, Public Utilities
Commission
Charles Little, Tuolumne River Preservation Trust & Others
INFORMATION
6. Finance & Operations Committee Report
7. Planning & Policy Committee Report
8. Public Outreach & Education Committee Report
9. Director's Report
10. President's Report
11. Other Business
11.01 - Emilio Cruz, Director of Public Transportation
Planned Municipal Railway Vehicles Purchases
INFORMATION
11.02 - Resolution Authorizing Letter to San Francisco Public
Utilties
Commission About PG&E's Proposed Sale of the Hunters Point and
Potrero Hill Power Plants
ACTION
11.03 - Resolution Authorizing Letter to San Francisco Department
of
Parking and Traffic Concerning Municipal Subsidy of
Employee
Automobile Parking
ACTION
12. Public Comment
13. Adjournment
Following is the proposed letter to the SF PUC:
Mr. E. Dennis Normandy
President
Public Utilities Commission
City and County of San Francisco
1155 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Re: PG&E Hunters Point and Potrero Hill Power Plants
Dear President Normandy:
It has come to our attention that, as part of the statewide electric utility
restructuring proceedings conducted by the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is selling all of
its fossil-fueled power plants in California, including the two local power
plants in San Francisco -- the Hunters Point Power Plant (HPPP) and the
Potrero Hill Power Plant (PHPP). We are interested in learning more about
what impact their sale by PG&E may have on San Francisco's environment and
achievement of its sustainable energy policies, particularly with regard to
local air quality.
We have decided to conduct a public hearing on the topic of energy at our
next regular meeting, scheduled for January 13, 1998, 6:00 p.m., at Room
207, City Hall, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. We invite you to join
us at this hearing. We would also like to invite a representative from
Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (PUC) to make a presentation at our hearing. We
would appreciate information on the PUC's long-term energy planning
activities and the PUC's position, if any, with regard to the sale of PG&E's
local power plants.
Based on the Environmental State of the City Report prepared in 1994, we
know that HPPP and PHPP together generate about one-half of City's
electricity load, or an estimated 400-500 Mw annually. Every year, San
Francisco's ratepayers (residents and local businesses) spend several
hundred million dollars for the electricity locally generated by HPPP and
PHPP. We also know that PG&E's HPPP and PHPP are
extremely old, inefficient and polluting. They are the largest stationary
sources of air pollution in San Francisco, generating over two thousand tons
of criteria air pollutants every year. Unfortunately, both plants are
clustered in the Southeast district of San Francisco, where residents are
facing a health crisis and are burdened with excessively high levels of
respiratory problems. In fact, the Department of Public Health recently
found that Bayview-Hunters Point children have the highest asthma rates in
the State of California.
We understand that PG&E is moving on a fast track with regard to its
divestiture proposal and may submit an application to the CPUC for approval
of the sale of HPPP and PHPP sometime within the next few weeks.
Based on an auction conducted last month by PG&E for three other power
plants, it appears that PG&E is willing to turn over control of the power
plants (and San Francisco's energy future) to the highest bidder, without
serious regard and consideration of the City's long-term energy needs, or
the special circumstances of the Bayview-Hunters Point community.
In the CPUC's initial environmental review of the sale of the HPPP, it was
revealed that a private buyer could use the local plant to sell more
electricity than it now produces, resulting in a significant increase in the
air pollutants which are now being emitted. Public ownership by San
Francisco would ensure that these old facilities do not produce more air
pollution than historical levels and that these local facilities could be
phased out or replaced with less polluting technology or alternatives as
they become available. In the meantime, San Francisco would receive the
revenues from the power plants and assure that the City's residents and
businesses are not vulnerable to price increases in the future.
We would like to discuss this important issue with you, and urge you to join
us at our January hearing. We plan also to invite representatives from PG&E
and public interest groups to this hearing. If you have any questions or
comments, please contact me, or our Commission Secretary, Christopher Chow,
at 554-6390.
Thank you for your consideration.
Very truly yours,
Francesca Vietor
President