FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

*** STATEMENT ***

MAYORS BREED, LICCARDO AND SCHAAF CONDEMN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION PROPOSAL THAT COULD HURT RATEPAYERS, CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAMS; MAYORS SAY VOTE SHOULD BE DELAYED

San Francisco, CA— The Mayors of the Bay Area’s three largest cities have issued the following joint statement regarding the Thursday vote at the California Public Utilities Commission that could harm the state’s clean energy plans.

“On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is scheduled to take action on an issue that could significantly disrupt the state’s clean energy programs and increase energy fees for utility customers. We strongly believe the CPUC should delay this process to allow for a more transparent public review of these critical issues.

Our cities are working to fight climate change by developing clean power programs that are affordable to customers. San Francisco has started CleanPowerSF which has already enrolled more than 108,000 customers in renewable energy programs, with 360,000 set to be enrolled by 2019. East Bay Community Energy, which includes the city of Oakland, is set to enroll 555,000 customers by 2019. San Jose Clean Energy just launched in September and will begin offering 100 percent renewable energy options to all residents and businesses in Spring 2019.

These programs and the 16 other operating Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs play a fundamental role in California’s aim of reaching 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. But this progress could be disrupted by a proposal under consideration by the CPUC.

The CPUC will consider a proposal to drastically change the state’s Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA), an exit fee that is paid to large, corporate utilities by energy customers when they switch to community-based clean power program providers in lieu of investor-owned utilities. Significantly raising exits fees will create price volatility and uncertainty and could threaten the future of our clean power programs.

This proposal could impact millions of California ratepayers, and affect California’s ability to meet its ambitious climate goals. But the CPUC is poised to act, despite offering little opportunity for public input and less than a week for local entities to review the full scope of the revised version of the plan, which was issued on Friday, October 5 with a vote scheduled for October 11.

The process has been rushed, opaque and with little concern for rate-paying customers. Jamming through this proposal without a robust oversight process is ill-advised, unnecessary and could have grave consequences for millions of Californians.

On behalf of the 2.5 million Bay Area residents that we represent, we strongly believe that the CPUC should delay this vote and allow for a true public review process. This issue is too important to rush through haphazardly. California’s clean energy future depends on this vital decision.”