Committee approves forwarding Clean Power SF's $100,000/year participation in California Community Power

The Budget and Finance Committee voted Sept. 27 to forward to the Board of Supervisors a resolution authorizing Clean Power SF to pay its share of California Community Power's general and administrative costs, not to exceed $100,000 per year with a 5% annual escalator for 25 years.

Mike Himes, deputy manager in the power enterprise at SFPUC responsible for Clean Power SF, said California Community Power (CC Power) is a joint powers agency formed in 2021 to allow community-choice aggregators to cooperate on procurement and programs. "Membership also allows for broader collaboration on initiatives that might benefit from a scaled or regional approach," Himes said. He characterized the $100,000 not-to-exceed amount as providing "a little headroom for unexpected costs"; Clean Power SF's share of CC Power's FY2023 24 budget was described in the presentation as about $85,000.

Nick Menard, the budget and legislative analyst, told the committee the requested authorization represents an increase from roughly $50,000 per year in prior years to the $100,000 cap going forward and recommended approval. Vice Chair Rafael Mendelmann said he would be a co-sponsor. A public commenter again urged transparency and conflict-of-interest disclosure.

The committee recorded three ayes and forwarded the resolution to the full board; the item is expected on the supervisors' Oct. 3 agenda for final action.