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alp227

(31,961 posts)
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 02:30 AM Sep 2012

SF public power plan given tentative OK

Source: SF Chronicle

San Francisco took a major step toward public power Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors gave initial approval to a five-year contract with Shell Energy North America to provide 100 percent renewable power to San Franciscans willing to pay a premium.

The 8-3 vote provided a veto-proof majority for a program that will effectively break Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s decades-old monopoly on the consumer power market in its headquarter city. It also lays the groundwork for city-owned renewable power production.

"The long-term goal is to really do our own generation," said Ed Harrington, the outgoing general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who delayed his retirement to see the proposal brought before legislators.

The plan comes eight years after the city began setting up a community choice aggregation program, which allows municipalities to choose alternative electricity providers. Former Supervisor Tom Ammiano, now an assemblyman, began pushing for public power, a touchstone issue for many on the city's political left, 14 years ago.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-public-power-plan-given-tentative-OK-3875891.php

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NBachers

(17,003 posts)
2. It sounds warm fuzzy and green, but who'll bust ass 24/7 to get the power back on in a major outage?
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 02:58 AM
Sep 2012

Earthquakes, big storms, or whatever- I know PG&E will be out there doing a capable job of getting everything running again in the event of a major outage.

Who's going to be doing the work if it's not PG&E? And are they up to the job?

If my power's out now, I can call in and get communication, updates, and service. Who will I call if I don't call PG&E? Will I get service, or will I be talking to a "Nobody's available but your call is very important to us, sucker. You can't leave a message because our mailbox is full" recording?

As the saying goes: "Is your power out? Call the Board of Supervisors to come over and fix it for you."

AndyTiedye

(23,500 posts)
3. You Can Call PG&E and Get a Recording
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 03:50 AM
Sep 2012

You can call PG&E and get a recording, which may or may not contain an estimate for when power will be restored.
The estimate may or may not be accurate.

I think the City would be able to meet that standard.

 

Nihil

(13,508 posts)
4. Is that sarcasm or just an advert break?
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 06:52 AM
Sep 2012

> Earthquakes, big storms, or whatever- I know PG&E will be out there doing
> a capable job of getting everything running again in the event of a major outage.

That'll be the same PG&E as this:

>> A PG&E Corp. pipeline exploded yesterday in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno,
>> California, killing four people and destroying 38 homes in the utility owner’s
>> second deadly natural-gas blast in two years.
(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-10/gas-explosion-in-san-francisco-suburb-kills-at-least-four-destroys-houses.html)

The death toll was eventually 8 and PG&E were at fault:
>> One of the nation's largest gas companies Pacific Gas & Electric is to blame for an
>> explosion that killed eight people and burned down a neighborhood in California's
>> Bay Area last year. That's the unanimous finding of the National Transportation Safety Board.
>> The panel says substandard welds and other safety problems date back to the
>> mid-1950s and that regulation was lax.
(http://www.npr.org/2011/08/31/140079516/ntsb-blames-pg-e-for-deadly-gas-explosion)

A more recent example of "busting ass 24/7":
>> A construction worker remained hospitalized Tuesday night after a natural-gas explosion
>> sparked a four-alarm fire in San Francisco that raised questions about the speed of PG&E's response time.
>>
>> The fire alongside Highway 101 took hours to control after PG&E was unable to shut the natural gas off.
>>
>> While at street level, firefighters scrambled to keep the one-inch gas line saturated for safety.
>> Natural gas flowed uncontrolled from the pipe for almost two hours.
( http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/fire-chief-says-pge-took-too-long-shut-gas-portola/nPS24/)

But hey, it's your choice, your money (and maybe even your life).



bemildred

(90,061 posts)
5. There is a lot of water passing through the Golden Gate every twelve hours.
Wed Sep 19, 2012, 09:09 AM
Sep 2012

I don't really see why nobody has bothered to exploit that energy source yet. You can probably run half the country on that alone.

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