San Francisco Offers to Buy PG&E Electric Grid in the City for $2.5 Billion

[yuiyoshida]

San Francisco city officials are offering to purchase PG&E's electrical grid in the city for $2.5 billion, according to a letter sent to the utility on Friday by Mayor London Breed and City Attorney Dennis Herrera.

The city has been considering a purchase since the utility filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January as it faced mounting liability for wildfires sparked by its equipment. City officials are arguing that San Francisco could provide power that is more affordable, more reliable and safer than PG&E does in the city.

"There has been a lack of investment in infrastructure over the course of the last decade by PG&E," Herrera said. "And that is, and was, motivated primarily by pursuit of profit. That's not something that San Francisco is going to be pursuing. We're not interested in profit. We're interested in providing safe affordable power to ratepayers rather than trying to make sure that stockholders are getting some great rate of return on their investment."

The money for the PG&E equipment would come from bonds approved by voters in June 2018, and would be paid off by customers through their electric bill. Customer rates would be the same or lower than current PG&E rates, according to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's Assistant General Manager for Power Barbara Hale.

"The transparency and the accountability that residents see because their local government is operating the system is much stronger," Hale explained. "You're able to stand at City Hall and give comment in a way that's much more effective than going to a PG&E shareholder meeting or going to a California Public Utilities Commission meeting."

MORE ...
https://www.kqed.org/news/11773007/san-francisco-offers-to-buy-pge-electric-grid-in-the-city-for-2-5-billion

[still_one]

1. Terrible idea. Are they going to take on PG&E's liabilities also?

[wasupaloopa]

2. No they buy the assets.

[still_one]

5. Well, that isn't going to happen, and the impact it will have on other California PG&E customers,

current PG&E employees, are reasons it won't be easy to get through

[California_Republic]

3. What liability? Not in SF. Not buying everything

Just SF

[California_Republic]

4. Maybe we can do our green power

PGE fought that all the way

[Brother Buzz]

8. San Francisco Public Utility Commesion already has a good program going

CleanPowerSF

CleanPowerSF is San Francisco’s official Community Choice Energy program. CleanPowerSF buys electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind, and puts that clean electricity on the power grid for everyone. That electricity is delivered to your home or business through PG&E’s existing power lines. All other aspects of your electricity service remain the same. Any customer with a PG&E electric account is eligible for CleanPowerSF.

Hell, San Francisco has been in the energy business for a long, long time; their crown jewel is the Hetch Hetchy Power company, pumping out electricity since 1919.

Buying the power grid make sense, and to be honest, that $2.5 Billion sounds like a bargain basement fire sale price.

https://www.sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=70

[captain queeg]

6. Things are changing dramatically in the western interconnect.

PG&E, PEAK closing shop, huge solar installations, treaty negotiations with Canada. Look for lots of changes.

[captain queeg]

7. Things are changing dramatically in the western interconnect.

PG&E, PEAK closing shop, huge solar installations, treaty negotiations with Canada. Look for lots of changes.