San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today celebrated the start of Earth Month by announcing the largest and last major enrollment of CleanPowerSF, the City’s popular community choice energy program. The initiative, which offers residents and businesses renewable energy options, has been a key factor in San Francisco’s 36% drop in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels—a reduction that has exceeded expectations. The one-year emissions reduction of 6% represents one of the largest single-year decreases since the City started tracking emissions. Concurrent with this reduction in emissions, San Francisco’s population has increased by 22 percent and its economy has grown by 166 percent. 

Mayor Breed also announced the launch of San Francisco’s inaugural Month of Climate Action, bringing to life her vision of community-based service opportunities for residents and organizations.

“The continued success of CleanPowerSF and our reductions in emissions are proof that you can have a growing, thriving city and still advance aggressive sustainability efforts,” said Mayor Breed. “But we know we need to continue this progress. During Earth Month, I’m excited to be launching our first Month of Climate Action to give every resident the opportunity to work in our neighborhoods to make our City greener, cleaner, and more resilient.”

CleanPowerSF, which is operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), is essential to helping the City meet its ambitious climate action goals. Prior to CleanPowerSF, electricity accounted for 29 percent of the City’s greenhouse gas emissions. Now, that total has dropped to 11 percent and CleanPowerSF has become one of the significant drivers of emission reductions across the City.

CleanPowerSF is set to enroll 250,000 customer accounts by the end of April. When the latest enrollment period is finished, approximately 360,000 businesses and residents will be served by the program.

Residents and businesses are automatically enrolled into CleanPowerSF’s Green program, which is comprised of 48% renewable energy sources and is priced at or below comparable PG&E rates. For a few extra dollars a month, customers can “opt-up” to the SuperGreen program, which serves 100% renewable energy service. Residents and businesses can also opt out of CleanPowerSF and remain with PG&E generation, which provides 39% renewable energy service. Currently, CleanPowerSF has a 97% retention rate.

“When given a choice for their energy services, more and more San Francisco customers are choosing cleaner, greener energy provided by the City’s trusted utility provider,” said SFPUC General Manager Harlan L. Kelly, Jr. “The SFPUC is committed to delivering safe, affordable and reliable services.”

CleanPowerSF’s latest enrollment period, combined with the greenhouse gas free hydroelectricity provided by the Hetch Hetchy Regional Power System and the SFPUC’s growing public power programs, will now provide 80% of the electricity in San Francisco.

Mayor Breed announced the latest enrollment period of CleanPowerSF at The New Wheel, a SuperGreen customer and participant in the Department of Environment’s Green Business Program.

“We started The New Wheel Electric Bikes because of our love for our city and our optimism for the future,” said Karen Wiener, co-founder of The New Wheel. “The choices that we make about energy use in transportation and infrastructure matter. In our store, we work daily to help our customers enjoy San Francisco by electric bike, replacing car trips with bike trips. Signing up to be a SuperGreen customer was an easy choice as it represents an extension of our values. It has proven to be an accessible and easy way to support sustainable, responsible energy goals in our city.”

The CleanPowerSF enrollment period is just one of several events planned over the next several weeks to celebrate San Francisco’s Month of Climate Action. A centralized database launched by the Department of the Environment will recognize engaged organizations, make participation more accessible to the public, and capture the incredible impact of the wide range of environmental service activities happening in April. This community platform launches today, April 1. For more information, please visit: www.sfenvironment.org/climateaction.

“San Francisco is an example to the country and to the world that a strong economy and strong environmental policies can go hand-in-hand,” said Debbie Raphael, Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. “Our continued progress shows that these goals drive action and deliver results. That’s the heart of our climate action story; we can be a capital of innovation and entrepreneurship, and we can also be a capital for environmental sustainability.”

Last September, Mayor Breed became the newest Mayoral Co-Chair of the Sierra Club’s Mayors For 100% Clean Energy program, a coalition of more than 200 mayors nationwide supporting a goal of 100% clean, renewable energy in their communities. As part of that announcement, Mayor Breed also doubled down on San Francisco’s commitment to use 100% renewable electricity by 2030, and reach 100% renewable energy by 2050.

About CleanPowerSF

CleanPowerSF is San Francisco's Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program. CCA programs enable local governments to purchase and develop power on behalf of the local community. The SFPUC purchases clean and renewable energy on behalf of our customers, which is then delivered through PG&E’s poles and wires. CleanPowerSF empowers San Francisco energy customers to reduce their carbon footprint while supporting local jobs, stable energy prices and new clean energy infrastructure.

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