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The Electric Company

By Neela Banerjee

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors took a big step toward creating a local public power system at Monday’s meeting when they placed a measure on November’s ballot that would create a municipal utility district (MUD).

The decision came after more than an hour of debate, with the supervisors questioning whether the creation of a MUD would be the best way for San Francisco to deal with the crippling energy crisis that has been rocking the region.

Municipalization would mean that local government would have to acquire and maintain its own wires, service boxes and power system. According to a San Francisco Superior Court ruling last year, the MUD would be run by an elected board, to be approved by a Local Agency Formation Commission and voters. It must also cover more than one city, which is why Brisbane has been included in the proposal.

Over 24,000 citizens in San Francisco and Brisbane signed a petition, authored by the Coalition for Lower Utility Bills (CLUB), which called for the issue to be on the ballot.

Joe Ventresca, co-chair of CLUB, and many other pro-MUD representatives made a loud presence at Monday’s meeting. Ventresca handed out information that explained how there are over 2,000 communities across the country, including 45 in California, that have chosen to provide for their own electrical power. Ventresca claimed that public power is a “century-old American tradition that now provides reliable electricity at low, stable rates to one out of seven Americans.”

But experts say that the creation of a MUD will not automatically lower utility prices, and the city attorney cautioned against the board acting before the city’s Local Agency Formation Commission properly reviews the proposal.

Supervisors Tony Hall and Gavin Newsom voted against the measure, expressing concern over the litigation that the city is most likely to face from PG&E, who has tried to block any attempt at the creation of a MUD for years.

“A new progressive Board of Supervisors has stood up to a powerful and corrupt private power monopoly and met its legal responsibility to call an election,” Ventresca said.

In other news, the supervisors also approved a six-month moratorium on the construction of live-work lofts in San Francisco and passed a rule that would make commercial developers more responsible for affordable housing.

“During the recent construction boom, developers have taken advantage of gaping loopholes in our planning code to build projects that are clearly out of step with the housing objectives of our general plan,” Supervisor Tom Ammiano said.

The board has faced criticism for the moratorium from those saying that bringing an end to loft building will not automatically solve the problem. But the proposal, co-sponsored by Supervisors Ammiano, Chris Daly and Sophie Maxwell, calls for supervisors to work with community activists to come up with a plan to create more truly affordable housing.

The Board passed the legislation 9 to 1 yesterday (with Hall dissenting), which is enough to override a mayoral veto that could have threatened the proposal.

The Board also approved the “Jobs-Housing Linkage Ordinance,” which will impose appropriate fees on new commercial developments to fund affordable housing construction in the city.

“The principal is straightforward,” Ammiano said. “If you build office, retail, entertainment or hotel development in San Francisco that add new jobs, you share some of the responsibility for providing affordable housing for these new workers.”

Along with these monumental decisions, the supervisors continued to look out for their own. Supervisor Leland Yee requested a hearing regarding the excessive noise created by new MUNI buses, saying that he has received numerous complaints from residents describing the noise as similar to a “banshee.”

Supervisor Aaron Peskin proposed that an interdepartmental task force be created to look at traffic and parking problems in District 3, one of the main issues that was raised at a community meeting that was held over the weekend.