In response to guidance from the Board of Supervisors, the 2011 Updated Electricity Resource Plan (ERP) identifies strategies that San Francisco could take in order to meet all of its electricity needs from renewable and zero-GHG sources by the year 2030.
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In 2009, the Board of Supervisors, through Ordinance 94-09, urged the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to update the 2002 Electricity Resource Plan. In response to the Board’s guidance in their 2009 Ordinance 94-09, staff has developed the 2011 Updated Electricity Resource Plan with the collaboration and input of the Power Plant Task Force. The Commission also retained the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to analyze the feasibility of San Francisco developing a zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) electric system by 2030 in a draft report, entitled A Greenhouse Gas Free Electric Strategy for City of San Francisco.
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Implementation of the plan is now underway, with some recommendations being put in place directly by the SFPUC and others involving external collaborators. Please check back at this web page in the near future to learn more about specific initiatives.
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The 2011 Updated ERP provides a new set of goals for San Francisco, as the City achieved the primary goals of the 2002 Electricity Resource Plan of shutting down the polluting fossil-fueled Hunter’s Point and Potrero power plants. The 2002 ERP was drafted jointly by the Power Enterprise and the San Francisco Department of the Environment. Community residents and business representatives, with assistance from the Rocky Mountain Institute, shaped goals and identified strategies in the report. A follow-up report issued in 2003, the Energy Resources Investment Strategy, provided additional detail to accompany the 2002 ERP’s analysis and conclusions.
We also published the Climate Action Plan for San Francisco in 2004 along with the Department of the Environment. The Climate Action Plan outlined actions to reduce GHG emissions in the energy, transportation, and solid waste sectors. We have long been leading on these efforts in the municipal sector through the efforts of our Energy Efficiency and Renewables programs.
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For additional resources please see our Facility Connection Requirements document, which was developed to comply with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standard FAC-001 Facility Connection Requirements.
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Energy Benchmarking
The first recommendation of San Francisco’s 2011 Electricity Resource Plan is to expand the City’s successful energy efficiency programs. With that goal in mind, the SFPUC has undertaken an assessment of over 300 of the City’s municipal buildings and released the resulting energy performance data in a public report found here. The report highlights high-performing buildings and also identifies buildings that may benefit the most from energy-related investments.
As the owner and occupant of hundreds of buildings, the City and County of San Francisco is a major user of energy. This report represents an expansion of existing efforts by the SFPUC to help City departments improve the energy performance of their buildings. The SFPUC offers a range of clean energy programs including energy audits and green building design assistance to help its customers identify ways to save energy and money. Energy efficiency projects implemented by the SFPUC over the past decade are saving the City over $4.6 million each year.
With the release of this report, San Francisco has become the first West Coast city to release municipal energy performance data, joining Washington D.C. and New York City. The report demonstrates public sector initiative in response to the recently adopted Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance. The ordinance requires both public and private building owners to annually “benchmark” their buildings’ energy use in comparison to other similar buildings, and then report the results. For more information on the ordinance and information for private-sector buildings, see the website of the Department of the Environment.