San Francisco Asks CPUC To Put Worth Tag On PG&E’s Infrastructure – CBS San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN / CBS SF) – As San Francisco continues its efforts to buy PG&E electrical equipment and convert the city to public power, city officials said Tuesday they had asked the California Public Utilities Commission to assess the value of local electricity infrastructure to be determined by PG&E.
The formal call for the CPUC to determine the value of PG & E’s electrical assets for the city comes after the utility twice rejected a $ 2.5 billion city offer to buy its local assets.
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In 2019, after PG&E filed for bankruptcy as it faced liabilities for deadly forest fires across the state, the city made its first offer. The following year, PG&E turned down a second offer.
City officials claim the utility also charged more than $ 1 billion in new fees to urban customers and delayed basic electrical connections for public buildings, including schools, affordable housing projects, transportation projects, and a University of California research facility at San Francisco.
“Although I would like to partner with this company, it was a great challenge,” said Mayor London Breed on Tuesday at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
“Imagine the hundreds of potentially affordable housing units that could be made available today to low-income families who cannot open because we cannot connect the electricity; because of the delays; because of the excuses; because of the cost of deploying new equipment that we didn’t even know we had to deploy at the beginning of the process. The goal post is moved during the game; we have to deal with that all the time, ”she said.
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“We are more than ready to go before the California Public Utilities Commission and make it clear why we want to acquire these assets and what we think their value is,” said Attorney General Dennis Herrera.
“PG & E’s failure to come to the table was made worse by his disability,” he said. “This obstruction, this delay has to stop, and we have to move forward to ensure that we can provide reliable and affordable public electricity to everyone.”
In response, PG&E said while it prides itself on providing over 85 percent clean energy to San Francisco residents, the city’s request was reckless as PG&E does not want to sell.
“Ultimately, PG & E’s assets are not for sale and San Francisco’s request today for an assessment of PG & E’s electrical assets by the California Public Utilities Commission is yet another waste of time and resources,” PG&E officials said in a statement. “While CCSF has repeatedly offered to buy PG&E infrastructure for pennies per dollar, PG&E does not agree that the results of this type of ownership move will benefit customers, taxpayers, other local communities, the state, or our economy. For these and many other reasons, we believe that San Francisco’s long-term interest in acquiring PG & E’s assets is not in the interests of the customers and the San Francisco neighborhood. ”
Breed and Herrera argued that the CPUC request is necessary if the city plans to take ownership of local utility companies and meet its goal of using 100 percent renewable electricity through its public electricity programs, Hetch Hetchy Power and CleanPowerSF by 2025.
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Both programs currently cover more than 70 percent of the city’s electricity.
