PG&E

Committee approves CleanPowerSF over downtown opposition

09.12.12 - 5:34 pm | Steven T. Jones |

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The question of whether San Francisco creates a renewable energy program that offers an alternative to Pacific Gas & Electric got its first major hearing at City Hall today, with the business community claiming it's too expensive and supporters arguing that the time has come for the city to address climate change and the long-term energy needs of city residents and businesses.Read more »

PG&E union mounts attack on Clean Power SF

09.11.12 - 9:25 pm | Tim Redmond |

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The union that represents PG&E workers -- and has opposed every single public-power initiative in modern San Francisco history -- just launched an attack on Clean Power SF. And the union's business representative is having a hard time explaining exactly why he's working with PG&E to try to undermine this modest step toward public power.Read more »

Missing the point on Hetch Hetchy

07.10.12 - 1:05 pm | Tim Redmond |

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So now we have to have a vote on tearing down Hetch Hetchy. That's fine, let's have the discussion. But let's be honest about it: This isn't just, or even primarily, a water issue. It's really about electric power.Read more »

PG&E's latest fire problem

06.14.12 - 2:57 pm | Tim Redmond |

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Sup. David Campos was at the fire on San Bruno Ave -- the one that burned for two hours before PG&E crews managed to shut off a gas pipeline, and he told me the situation was a disaster. "PG&E had apparently done some work on the pipe but hadn't documented it," he said. "Nobody was there when we needed to shut it off. Two hours -- that's unacceptable."Read more »

Restore Hetch Hetchy conjures corporate boogiemen

06.14.12 - 2:31 pm | Steven T. Jones |

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The campaign for a ballot measure that seeks to create a plan for tearing down the O'Shaughnessy Dam – San Francisco's main source of clean water and power – and turning the Hetch Hetchy Valley into a tourist destination must be having a hard time collecting the 9,702 signatures it needs by July 9 because it is resorting to conjuring up unlikely boogiemen to win public sympathy.Read more »

Guardian editorial: Mixed report on Mayor Lee

01.10.12 - 2:05 pm |

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EDITORIAL Mayor Ed Lee's first big decision — the appointment of a District 5 supervisor — demonstrated something very positive:

The mayor knows that he can't do what his predecessor did and ignore and dismiss the progressive community.

His inauguration speech demonstrated something else: That he has no intention of being a mayor who takes on and defies the interests of downtown. Read more »

PG&E could be gone in five years

12.28.11 - 4:56 pm | Tim Redmond |

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There's a new map of solar-power cost projections that estimates that San Franciscans could replace PG&E power with local distributed solar as early as 2017. Sfist reported on the map today -- and it adds to the clear evidence that San Francisco needs to devote resources to building its own clean-energy infrastructure. Read more »

PG&E's system fails -- again

Candlestick Park blackout tells us a lot about the power company's commitment to the city

12.27.11 - 5:47 pm | Guardian Editorial |

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EDITORIAL There's no question that officials from Santa Clara — thrilled to have finalized financing for a new 49ers stadium — were taking full political advantage of the Dec. 19 blackouts at Candlestick Park. There's no question that the event Mayor Ed Lee called a "national embarrassment" helped guarantee that the team will leave San Francisco after one more season.

But this is about more than football — and the mayor and the supervisors ought to using this latest PG&E screw-up to take a serious look at the company's reliability and its impact on the city.Read more »

Guardian editorial: PG&E's system fails again!

12.26.11 - 11:32 am |

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But this is about more than football — and the mayor and the supervisors ought to be using this latest PG&E screw-up to take a serious look at the company's reliability and its impact on the city.

This is hardly the first embarrassing PG&E blackout in San Francisco. For the past few years, the private utility's aging infrastructure has been failing, leaving businesses and residents in the dark. And while PG&E officials are trying to blame the city for the latest snafu, everyone admits that the problem started when a PG&E power line snapped. Read more »