City negotiates limited PG&E agreement to speed grid connections for 100% affordable projects on city land

The city’s utilities and housing agencies told the Budget and Finance Committee they reached a targeted agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric to allow many 100% affordable housing projects sited on city land to interconnect at secondary (low‑voltage) service. SFPUC staff and MOHCD said the limited deal addresses longstanding PG&E demands for large primary switchgear and other equipment that had delayed and raised the cost of several affordable projects.

Pamela Huising of the SFPUC said the agreement is intentionally limited — it covers projects that will be 100% affordable (excluding manager units) and that are on city property or will be transferred to the city within a year. MOHCD presented a pipeline list of roughly 33 eligible projects (about 4,000 units), with an expected immediate beneficiary set of about 20 projects currently planned to take advantage of secondary connections.

MOHCD Deputy Lydia Ely said the agreement should save both time and money for nonprofit developers competing for state funding because the agencies can avoid forced reengineering and expensive primary switchgear (equipment costs commonly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars). SFPUC and MOHCD will press to expand the terms, but told the committee talks with PG&E remain difficult and the city has pursued parallel remedies through regulatory and legal channels.

Committee action: The committee voted to forward the agreement to the full Board with a positive recommendation.