PG&E: S.F. continues push to buy city power system

Four San Francisco supervisors voiced broad support Monday for buying local power lines from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., inching the city closer toward a multibilliondollar attempt to take over part of the utility’s electric service in its own backyard.

The Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee agreed the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission should continue studying a potential purchase of PG&E electric equipment serving the area. All of the committee’s members — Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Matt Haney and Ahsha Safaí — indicated they wanted to keep looking into the matter so the city can get a better idea of key de

tails such as how much the transaction could cost and how electric service would be overseen.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who is a sponsor of a related board resolution, sent a statement conveying her strong desire to move toward fullfledged public power in the city.

“Every day brings another new story making it clear that PG&E is a wreck,” Ronen said in the statement, which Haney read to the committee.

Referencing the potential criminal prosecution PG&E could face because of its role in the devastating 2018 Camp Fire and the ongoing battle for control involving hedge funds in the company’s bankruptcy case, Ronen called the utility’s woes “the inevitable outcome of having an investorowned utility that puts profits over reliability and safety” and all else.

“We can’t keep going down this path,” she said.

San Francisco already powers cityowned buildings, Muni, Treasure Island and facilities developed at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard through electricity generated at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The city also buys electricity for many of its residents through a community choice aggregator, but PG&E distributes the energy through its power lines.

The city began looking into buying PG&E power lines in January after the company said it would file for bankruptcy protection because of its mounting wildfire liabilities. Last week, Mayor London Breed and City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter telling him they were “optimistic that the city will be in a position in the near future to make an attractive offer to PG&E.” Breed and Herrera asked to meet with Newsom soon.

PG&E, which is headquartered in San Francisco, has opposed efforts to take over some areas it serves in the past but has not come out against the city’s current flirtation with buying local electric equipment. A spokeswoman for the utility said in a statement last week that PG&E was “open to communication on this issue.”

Such a large expansion of the city’s role as a power provider would come with a large price tag — and one that’s not fully clear yet. The report supervisors heard Monday does not estimate a specific cost but says that it would be billions of dollars.

Barbara Hale, assistant general manager for power operations at the city utilities commission, told supervisors that the purchase price could be “in the realm” of other complicated investments the city has made, including expansion and redevelopment at San Francisco International Airport. The city previously hired Jefferies, a New York investment bank, to advise it on the matter.

“It’s doable for the city,” Hale said. “Having said that, though, we do recognize that this is a complex undertaking and it’s not without risks and challenges.”

Hale said the city wants to be able to engage with PG&E after its exclusive right to file a bankruptcy reorganization plan expires Sept. 26. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris