Sunset - Southeast Sector..

WHY SHOULD ANYONE TRUST PG&E AND SAN FRANCISCO PUC

Many say that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is the logical choice to be the lead agency linked to the City and County of San Francisco and the Community Aggregation Plan to save our City energy. While Mirant as well as Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) have declared bankruptcy for some reason best known to some vested parties the marriage between PG&E and SF PUC is touted as a logical choice by some entities.

I am very certain that SF PUC has not done a good job with our Utilities linked to clean water and raw sewage. I am also very certain that PG&E have milked the ratepayers again and again and should be phased out. I am very clear on this.

SF PUC has been charged to install 4 Combustible Turbine Engines which the City and County of San Francisco received as part of the mitigation arrived at by the State and Williams Company which overcharged the State and the City and County of San Francisco during the Energy Crisis.

As part of putting the Aggregation Plan together the SF PUC is trying to hurry up and put a plan together without input from the community all over the City and County of San Francisco.

Right now SF PUC sees nothing wrong to place 3 Combustible Turbine Engines in the Southeast Sector. The Williams Generator settlement should be in place by December 2003 and this includes a site settlement agreed by the Constituents of San Francisco. Further more the constituents of the Bayview and Hunters point are in full agreement that no added pollution Power Plants or their expansion should task the already polluted environment in the area known to the City and County of San Francisco as District 10.

SF PUC has aligned with Supervisor Sophie Maxwell. This Supervisor has failed her community. The Mayor promised to shut down the Hunters Point PG&E Plant in 1998 Ð it was an empty promise.

In our haste to focus on these 4 Combustible Turbine Engines we have not evaluated some critical factors:

1. Again and again those of us who understand the Transmission Lines have stated that our transmission lines should be fixed and revamped. This has not been done in ages. Our transmission lines cannot carry the maximum load.

2. The Peak Load charts that have been made available to those of us who understand the distribution of energy are negligible. The fact is that PG&E and the Independent System Operator have NOT given us the correct data. Again and again we encounter this factor when we deal with PG&E.

3. Some of us understand the way energy in transmitted into the City and County of San Francisco. Right now if we add one transmission line and replace the vacant dead transmission line coming in from the South Ð we can solve two problems. One solves the bottleneck some 30 miles away from the Jefferson Martin Sub Station. Secondly remedy the leakage in the transmission lines that bring in the energy through these high power lines.

4. Experts have revealed to me many times that the simple fact of using the COOLING METHOD would reduce pollution and generate extra power. Right now both the Mirant Power Plant and the PG&E plant pump water from the San Francisco Bay and the spent hot water is pumped into the San Francisco Bay which has all these years killed millions of fish besides polluting the San Francisco Bay.

5. The Aggregation Project should place the Williams Generators in neighborhoods that have NOT previously bothered to participate in the City and County of San Francisco Energy Program. The sub-station at Larkin Street could accommodate one. The Mission sub-station could accommodate another. The Presidio of San Francisco should have one Combustible Engine placed on that Federal Property that can and should share the burden of the City and County of San Francisco.

6. San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission has tried to address some of the concerns linked to Aggregation. It has focused on the comments of paid consultants who have deep pocket links with PG&E and other Energy Power Entities.

7. The City and County of San Francisco have failed to tap into the Hetch Hetchy Power that our City has jurisdiction over. Again and again we prefer to pay PG&E more money while we dole our Hetch Hetchy power at reduced rates to counties like Tulare!

8. Right now there is a surplus of power in California. We have brand new Power Plants a few hundred miles from San Francisco. As I mentioned we should replace dead transmission lines, spruce new ones and bring in the maximum high power energy on the energy super highway which has NOT been maintained and upgraded as it ought to be.

9. SF PUC has some experience but should not be put in a position to exploit the constituents of San Francisco as it has with our clean water and raw sewage. Its track record with Hetch Hetchy power is despicable.

10. Hetch Hetchy power now provides power of One Market Building. It also provides power to Untied Airlines. It is supposed to provide all power to all Municipality Facilities but the PUBLIC has no precise data. As a matter of fact it supplies power to part of Hunters Point Public Housing.

11. The informed constituents have requested California Public Utilities to request PG&E to provide us with current factual data on multiunit subsidized units. Current factual data on various categories of homes and housing that PG&E collects money from. To date we have not been able to tap into this vital information. We filed our comments to Cal PUC as part of a Title VI class action suit. In simple terms PG&E has discriminated against those it should have helped. We have innocent hard working poor people paying $300 to $600 a month to PG&E. This is uncalled for and tough mitigation fines should be in order.

12. A special task force should be created to study the role of SF PUC, San Francisco Environment and this study evaluation revealed to all the constituents of the San Francisco. It is wrong to give complete control to City agencies that have failed again and again when asked to manage huge sums of money.

13. PG&E today is buying energy at reduced prices but passing on to the ratepayers increased rates as part of its mistakes when it over priced and sold energy to the State of California. Billions of dollars will have to be paid by ratepayers over many years - just because of deregulation and just because the State of California signed the long-term contracts for delivery of power. PG&E fully and with intent deceived the ratepayers and continue to deceive the ratepayers.

14. LAFCO would be best advised to study all the data and then deliver the data to qualified constituent like myself who have questioned PG&E and SF PUC officials again and again and got NO answers. Have the task force evaluate the best information and put in place the plan that best serves the constituents of San Francisco. For too long have too many of the constituents of San Francisco have been deceived by PG&E and SF Public Utilities Commission.

San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission Energy Services Study

Francisco Da Costa
Environmental Justice Advocacy
4909 3rd Street
San Francisco, California 94124

top - back