DEPARTMENT Power Enterprise AGENDA NO. 10
MEETING DATE June 27, 2023
AGENDA ITEM
Public Utilities Commission
City and County of San Francisco
Calendar: Regular Calendar
Contract/Project Manager: Barbara Hale
Resolution in support of improved workforce, environment, and environmental justice practices in California Community Power Agency energy procurements Summary of Proposed
Commission Action:
Adopt a resolution in support of transparency, environmental accountability, and labor standards for the Joint Power Agency, California Community Power Agency, to improve its workforce, environment, and environmental j ustice p ractices in e nergy procurements; and direct the General Manager to cause a copy of the resolution to be transmitted to the California Community Power Agency. The SFPUC’s CleanPowerSF program is a member of the California Community Power Agency.
Background: California Public Utilities Code Section 366.2 allows public agencies to aggregate the electrical load of interested electricity consumers within their jurisdictional boundaries. Pursuant to this law, the City and County of San Francisco (City) has establi shed a community choice aggregation program known as CleanPowerSF to provide electric power to the residents and businesses located within its jurisdiction. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors (Board) established the City’s community choice aggregation
program in
May 2004 (Ordinance 86-04). The Ordinance found that community choice aggregation would allow the City to increase the scale and cost-effectiveness of renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency in San Francisco and to increase local control over electricity prices and resources.
Guided by San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)- adopted program goals (affordable service, cleaner energy, local investment, and financial and rate stability) and Business Practice Policies (Resolution No. 15-0267, amended with Resolution No. 18- 0028), CleanPowerSF initiated service to approximately 7,800 customers in May 2016. Following on the success of its initial phase of service, CleanPowerSF undertook multiple additional auto - enrollments, until citywide enrollment of all eligible customer accounts was completed in June 2020. Today, CleanPowerSF is successfully serving approximately 380,000 customer accounts with Agenda Title: Resolution in support of improved workforce, environment, and environmental justice practices in California Community Power Agency energy procurement
Commission Meeting Date: June 27, 2023
annual electricity sales of about 3,000 gigawatt-hours and an annual peak demand of 550 megawatts.
In early 2021, a group of community choice aggregators (each a Member, together the Members) formed a new joint powers authority in early 2021, California Community Power Agency (CC Power). As stated in the CC Power Joint Powers Agr eement, CC Power’s primary objective is to provide for joint procurement of electrical power and storage and other energy projects for its Members. The Members intend that CC Power will seek to better position the Members to administer community choice ene rgy programs and achieve their local agency goals, including but not limited to meeting or exceeding California’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets through procurement of renewable resources. CC Power is not intended to be a policy- maker or advocate, though it may, from time to time, advance or support public policies in support of its purpose that do not conflict with interests or policies advanced by any Member.
The Commission , by Resolution No. 21-0023, and the Board of Supervisors, by Ordinance No. 25-21, authorized CleanPowerSF to become a M ember of CC Power, and in April 2021 the CC Power Board approved CleanPowerSF’s membership (Resolution 21-04- 09).
In its Resolution, the Commission directed staff to work with other CC Power members as appropriate to develop policies and guidelines for procuring products and services in a manner that promotes the City’s and SFPUC’s environmental goals and efforts to foster an inclusive and sustainable workforce through support for measures such as fair and equitable compensation, local hiring, and support of local businesses, while maintaining affordable and stable rates for San Franciscans, including:
• Engaging in outreach efforts in local and diverse
communities, including disadvantaged and low-income
communities, to create a diverse pool of candidates for open positions, while providing fair compensation that aligns with regional market indicators for compensation;
• Conducting marketing and outreach in an inclusive manner in CC Power member communities, including attending
important multi-cultural community events with multi-
lingual materials and speakers as appropriate, using local, diverse media outlets, and other opportunities to increase awareness of CleanPowerSF services and programs pursued in partnership with CC Power;
• Sharing information and collateral with CC Power members about SFPUC’s Racial Equity initiatives that are promoting Agenda Title: Resolution in support of improved workforce, environment, and environmental justice practices in California Community Power Agency energy procurement
Commission Meeting Date: June 27, 2023
inclusion, access, and diverse engagement in a manner
consistent with the adopted SFPUC Racial Equity
Resolution (Resolution 20-0149);
• Relying on a combination of local labor, union labor and apprenticeship programs, and following fair compensation practices, including proper assignment of work to crafts that traditionally perform the work, when constructing CC
Power projects; and
• Promoting fair compensation, fair worker treatment, multi- trade collaboration, and support of the existing and
prevailing wage base in local communities where CC
Power-contracted projects will be located.
CC Power is comprised of nine community choice aggregation programs. Specifically, the Members are Central Coast Community Energy, CleanPowerSF, East Bay Community Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy , Redwood Coast Energy Authority , San Jose Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Sonoma Clean Power , and Valley Clean Energy. CC Power Members represent over 3 million customers across 1 48 municipalities spanning from Humboldt County to Santa Barbara County.
By joining the CC Power JPA, CleanPowerSF has the opportunity but not the obligation to participate in the pr ocurement of energy or services that might not otherwise be available or cost -effective to CleanPowerSF as an individual community choice aggregator . To date, with the approval of the Commission and Board,
CleanPowerSF is participating in the purchase of energy and capacity from four energy projects procured through CC Power:
• Tumbleweed Long Duration Storage
• Goal Line Long Duration Storage
• Ormat Portfolio Geothermal
• Fish Lake Geothermal
With the diversity of communities served by CC Power comes some differing goals and business practices in procuring energy. Labor, environment, and environmental justice advocates have commented at CC Power public meetings to influence CC Power’s energy procurement practices
, asking for the adoption of policies to be
applied to every CC Power solicitation. The Commission’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee has also engaged on this topic and passed a resolution August 16, 2022, which was recommended to the Commission September 13, 2022 (SFPUC Regular Meeting,
Communications Item 6h), and commented upon by the public when the Committee presented its Annual Report (SFPUC Regular Meeting, Item 7) . The Citizens’ Advisory Committee
Agenda Title: Resolution in support of improved workforce, environment, and environmental justice practices in California Community Power Agency energy procurement
Commission Meeting Date: June 27, 2023
recommendation forms the basis for the resolution and attachment staff recommends for adoption.
Scope of Action: In its recommendation, the Citizens’ Advisory Committee asks the Commission to adopt a resolution to support SFPUC, in its role as a voting Member of CC Power , to advocate for adoption of certain workforce, environment, and environmental justice practices for CC Power energy procurement; and to form a public advisory committee, including labor, environmental and equity
representatives, to ensure transparency and public engagement in CC Power’s operations and procurement practices.
Staff reviewed the Committee recommendations and incorporated edits to align the recommendations with City and Commission requirements and policies, and California law. The recommendations are, on the whole, consistent with SFPUC practices. Staff’s proposed recommendations to support transparency, environmental
accountability, and labor standards for CC Power workforce and environmental justice practices for energy procurement are in Attachment A.
In its energy procurement efforts with CC Power to date , consistent with Commission direction in Resolution No. 21 -0023, staff have worked with CC Power members to address workforce, environment, and environmental justice , by including many of the practices recommended by the Committee . For example, the Long Dur ation Storage solicitation CC Power issued included project conditions to:
• Require prevailing wages;
• Encourage local labor and apprenticeship programs; and • State a preference for a Project Labor Agreement (PLA), allowing up to 5 points in the evaluation process for a commitment to PLA.
These first three practices are addressed in Attachment A, #2. • Meet permitting requirements of local authority(ies); and • State a preference for projects that avoid sensitive habitats.
These two practices are addressed in Attachment A, #3.
• Require a developer to attest to not using forced labor in its supply chain; and
• Require a developer to identify project benefits to local communities.
These two practices are addressed in Attachment A, #4.
CC Power has not required itself to include these practices in all solicitations. CC Power has also not established an advisory Agenda Title: Resolution in support of improved workforce, environment, and environmental justice practices in California Community Power Agency energy procurement
Commission Meeting Date: June 27, 2023
committee to implement the transparency and public engagement steps that the Committee recommended in Attachment A, #4. In response to public comment, CC Power committed to have a public workshop where workforce, environment, and environmental practices in energy procurement will be further discussed among members and the public, now scheduled for September 29, 2023.
The Attachment A would improve decision- making transparency (Attachment A, #6) and extend the CC Power procurement practices to include:
Workforce
• Engaging in multi-trade project labor agreement discussions to negotiate an agreement, or agreements when preparing for direct construction of a project; and
• A preference in bid selection for projects that, first, are located in a county or city that receives electric service from a member of CC Power, then to projects that are located within California, and then to projects whose first point of connection is within a California Balancing Authority Area or that schedule electricity into a C alifornia Balancing Authority Area on a hourly or sub-hourly basis.
Environment
• Complying with relevant conservation plans such as the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan when avoiding sensitive habitat; and
• Requesting Global Electronics Council EPEAT ecolabel
registration status and level for inverters and modules.
Environmental Justice
• Improving identification of and engagement with
Disadvantaged Community stakeholders in decision-making, with methods that ensure accessibility; and
• Encouraging public entity owners of construction projects to conduct a cost/benefit impact analysis with an emphasis on evaluating disproportionate impacts on D isadvantaged
Communities.
Adoption of the resolution would provide clear guidance to PUC staff in their participation in discussions and actions as a voting member of CC Power.
Funding and Costs: The adoption of the resolution has no direct costs.
Attachment: 1. Attachment A
PUB
LIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
City and County of San Francisco
RESOLUTION NO.
WH
EREAS, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors established a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program in 2004 (Ordinance 86-04) and has implemented the program, called CleanPowerSF, through the work of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPU C) in consultation with the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission (Ordinances 146-07, 147-07, and 232-09); and
WHEREAS, The SFPUC has adopted program goals and Business Practice Policies (Resolution No. 15-0267, amended with Resolution No. 18-0028), for CleanPowerSF that guide CleanPowerSF’s planning and operations, including leading with affordable and reliable service, providing cleaner electricity alternatives, and investing in local renewable projects and jobs while providing for long-term rate and financial stability; and
WHEREAS, CleanPowerSF initiated service to approximately 7,800 customers in May 2016, and following on the success of its initial phase of service, undertook multiple additional auto-enrollments, until citywide enrollment of all eligible customer accounts was completed in June 2020, resulting in now serving approximately 380,000 customer accounts with annual electricity sales of about 3,000 gigawatt-hours and an annual peak demand of 550 megawatts; and WHEREAS, The SFPUC by Resolution No. 21-0023 and the Board by Ordinance No. 25- 21, authorized CleanPowerSF to become a member of California Community Power (CC Power), a joint power authority comprised of nine CCAs representing over 2.7 million customers across 112 municipalities spanning from Humboldt County to Santa Barbara County, and in April 2021 the CC Power Board approved CleanPowerSF’s membership (Resolution 21-04-09); and WHEREAS, The SFPUC, in Resolution No. 21-0023, directed staff to work with other CC Power members as appropriate to develop policies and guidelines for procuring products and services in a manner that promotes the City’s and SFPUC’s environmental goals and efforts to foster an inclusive and sustainable workforce through support for measures such as fair and equitable compensation, local hiring, and support of local businesses, while maintaining affordable and stable rates for San Franciscans; and
WHEREAS, Labor, environment, and environmental justice advocates have commented at CC Power public meetings to influence CC Power’s energy procurement practices, asking for the adoption of policies to be applied to every CC Power solicitation; and the SFPUC Citizen s’ Advisory Committee (CAC) passed a resolution August 16, 2022, which was recommended to the Commission September 13, 2022 (SFPUC Regular Meeting, Communications Item 6h); and WHEREAS The SFPUC CAC resolution recommends the Commission direct staff to advocate for adoption of certain workforce, environment and environmental justice practices for CC Power energy procurement; and to form a public advisory committee, including labor, environmental and equity representatives, to ensure transparency and public engagement in CC Power’s operations and procurement practices; and
WHEREAS, Staff reviewed the CAC recommendations and incorporated edits to align the recommendations with City and Commission requirements and policies, and California law, in Attachment A; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Commission hereby adopts this resolution and directs the SFPUC representative to CC Power to advocate for adoption of the workforce, environment and environmental justice practices for CC Power energy procurement described in Attachment A; and be it
FURTHER
RESOLVED, That this Commission hereby directs the General Manager to cause a copy of this resolution and Attachment A to be transmitted to California Community Power Agency.
I
hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was adopted by the Public Utilities
Commission at its meeting of June 27, 2023.
Secretary, Public Utilities Commission
Attachment A to Resolution in Support of Transparency, Environmental Accountability, and Labor Standards for California Community Power Workforce and Environmental Justice Practices for Energy Procurement
1. Competitive, low carbon power supply: As stated in the California Community Power Agency (CC Power) Joint Powers Agreement, CC Power’s primary objective is to provide for joint procurement of electrical power and storage and other energy projects for its Members; and the Members intend that CC Power shall better position the Members to administer community choice energy programs, and achieve their local agency goals, including but not limited to meeting or exceeding California’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets through procurement of renewable resources. CC Power supply procurement shall further this objective and intent.
2. Workforce: Whether or not a construction project is a public work as defined by the California Labor Code, contractors shall comply with California prevailing wage provisions applicable to public work projects, including but not limited to the Labor Code sections pertaining to employment of apprentices on public work projects.
All construction work that falls within an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades shall be performed by a Skilled and Trained Workforce (STW) in accordance with Chapter 2.9 (commencing with Section 2600) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, unless the work is subject to a Project Labor Agreement (PLA).
CC Power shall encourage project owners to enter into a PLA for individual or groups of projects as appropriate.
For projects that do not implement a PLA, the project owner will monitor and enforce STW, prevailing wage, and apprenticeship requirements as provided under state law.
CC Power shall encourage project owners to use local labor with a deliberate emphasis on targeted outreach to women, minorities, gender non-conforming, residents of low-income communities, the formerly incarcerated and veterans.
CC Power-developed projects would likely be delivered through an alternative delivery method, like design build. In advance of CC Power considering a direct construction approach, CC Power shall engage in multi-trade project labor agreement discussions to negotiate an agreement, or agreements, consistent with the applicable Public Contract Code and local ordinance provisions authorizing such agreements by public agencies.
CC Power shall first give a preference to projects that are located in a county or city that receives electric service from CC Power, then to projects that are located within California, and then to projects whose first point of connection is within a California Balancing Authority Area or that schedule electricity into a California Balancing Authority Area on an hourly or sub-hourly basis.
3. Environmental: All projects must meet the permitting requirements of the appropriate governing authority/authorities.
CC Power shall state a preference in the request for proposals for projects that avoid sensitive habitat areas and that comply with relevant conservation plans such as the Desert
Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
CC Power shall require in the request for proposals that developers of construction projects address how the project will avoid or mitigate, to the extent feasible, potential environmental and environmental justice impacts of the project.
The request for proposal shall request Global Electronics Council EPEAT ecolabel registration status and level for inverters and modules.
4. Environmental Justice: CC Power shall meaningfully engage with “disadvantaged community” stakeholders and incorporate their input in its decision-making process.
CC Power shall identify Disadvantaged Community (DAC) stakeholders from the vicinity of projects using a variety of tools such as Cal EnviroScreen and the State Department of Housing and Community Development’s opportunity maps.
CC Power shall make information easily accessible to DAC stakeholders using various outreach methods including workshops, virtual webinars, and presentations at existing community meetings or events.
CC Power will encourage public entity owners of construction projects to conduct a cost/benefit impact analysis with an emphasis on evaluating disproportionate impacts on Disadvantaged Communities.
CC Power will encourage public entity owners of construction projects to identify project benefits to communities in the project vicinity.
CC Power shall require in its request for proposals that a project proposer attests to not using forced labor in its supply chain.
5. Unbundled Renewable Energy Credits (RECs): CC Power shall avoid projects involving the use of unbundled renewable energy credits (RECs) to meet its members’ renewable energy goals.
6. Project evaluation and selection: CC Power shall evaluate and select energy projects with an evaluation process that utilizes the practices discussed herein. This evaluation process should holistically consider workforce, environmental justice, and community benefits balanced with technical and financial considerations.
CC Power shall publish project evaluation and selection information at the time of project approval.