SF Public Utilities Commission Reviewing Clean Energy Alternative To PG&E
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco is moving closer to its launch of a clean power program that will compete with PG&E. The city's Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is now taking a closer look at customer rate impacts of CleanPowerSF.
The study will examine who wants the pricier program and who doesn't, while the PUC will take on the cost of clean power at a rate-setting hearing. It should be available by this October.
"We'll be offering 100 percent California certified renewable energy; very clean green energy, but it will cost a little bit more," said SF PUC spokesman Tyrone Jue.
According to Jue, 200,000 households will be enrolled, but if they don't want the pricier product they can return to PG&E.
"It will be an easy opt-out process. No fee associated with opting out and no time limit to opt out. And you can stay with the program as long as you want," he said.
According to a new report, the new energy program will likely increase bill from about $10 to $83 a month depending on usage.
A new survey shows that younger, more affluent, better educated San Franciscans are more likely to want the clean power option, but the idea is less popular in neighborhoods where residents either have lower incomes or are more conservative.
SF Public Utilities Commission To Review Clean Energy Utility Alternative To PG&E
The exact costs won't be known until the clean power is purchased from Shell Energy, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company, the American arm of Royal Dutch Shell. Critics of the new program have included Mayor Ed Lee and those who find the financial benefits to Shell alarming and a potential contradiction.
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