NO CLEAR PLAN ON SOLAR PROJECTS IN SAN FRANCISCO
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Some years ago the City and County of San Francisco passed a bond measure - 100 million dollars so that San Francisco could address Solar Projects and reduce the burning of fossil fuel. The two power plants situated in the Bayview Hunters Point emit more then one and half thousand tons of toxins each into the air, water, and land.
Solar projects are not easy because they need the blessing of the City when it comes to permits and of Pacific Gas and Electric when it comes to tapping into the GRID which is the main artery that carries energy to any locality. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission under Pat Martel initiated the Moscone West Project that was given to PowerLite to install solar panels. Experts who have inspected the project see failures in the installation and more in the installation of the panels which cannot capture the maximum sunlight. It is all about degrees and inclinations and experts who know such matters - are amazed why so much money was wasted on such a poor end result. Of course PowerLite has made millions and is now thinking of doing the same at the Phelps Raw Sewage Plant. It is not right to give PowerLite the monopoly to install solar panels when we have other much more advanced companies like Spire who have over 30 years of experience. Spire is the world's leading company when it comes to Solar Installation and manufacturing Solar Panels. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has done a poor job-training interns from San Francisco to install solar panel. It has given the contract to a company like PowerLite that has no interest in training and helping the constituents of San Francisco get career jobs. The Phelps Raw Treatment Plant Solar Project is known to some. If one studies the details Occidental and PowerLite are the two major companies who will be making money on this little known project? Both companies have some little connection with some trainees who have had some experience on the short-lived ACE program. James Morrison worked hard to put the program together and also works hard on the outreach. The Bayview Advocates who really got the money for the ACE program wasted a lot of money and one Olin Webb saw that he got his $1500 a month for doing nothing much. At Pier 96 Spire and others have put in a bid and if all goes well Spire should be given an opportunity to work on Pier 96 so that a comparison can be made with the work at Moscone West and the Phelps Raw Sewage Treatment Plant. It is wrong to give only one company all the major Solar Projects in San Francisco. PowerLite has inside connections and so does Occidental. Spire has no inside connection but has world-renowned reputation. It is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to quality Solar Panels. Spire loves to empower the community but I do not see that inspiration with PowerLite, Occidental, and Next Energy. Pacific Gas and Electric should be poised to help those companies that can come up with a quality product. The Jefferson-Martin Transmission Line should be in place by 2007. We should have a loop transmission line from Mirant to Hunters Point by 2006. Solar is here to stay and if clear lines and connection can be given to the GRID - Solar is here to stay. Jesse Blout, Ed Smellof, Swartz, Jared Blumenfeld, and a few others are thinking small. They are thinking small because none of them live in the City and County of San Francisco - they are here to get their pay check and that is what they are focused on. Solar Project should have a clear Blue Print that this City does not have in place. The bond measure has problems and only those with clout are having access to this money. Our infants are dying and these folks think nothing about it. They would if the children dying were White. This type of thinking and acting is racist. If you tell these folks that they do not like it. They way they act and think smacks of the worst type of racism. Susan Leal really has not understood engineering concepts. It will take her several years before she admits she made the greatest mistake of her life by taking on the job at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The Hetch Hetchy Project should have had in place an Engineer Director of SFPUC with lots of experience. The Solar Project demand even greater expertise and Susan Leal and her inside circle have no clue whatsoever about Jefferson-Martin Transmission Line, the Mirant to Hunters Point power plant transmission line, the grandiose plan to place a high engineering quality product fiber optic transmission line from Pittsburgh to Mirant mostly under the Bay. The quality of air has been polluted by the power plants using fossil fuel. Millions of vehicles using diesel further adversely impact the situation. The Phelps Raw Sewage Treatment Plant is the single most toxic stationery plant in the City and comes under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The Darlin Plant manufacturing tallow stinks to high heaven and pollutes the air. In the same area you have a concentration of all the concrete, sand, and aggregate companies. Dust and diesel all over the places - polluting the land, air and water. The SFPUC wants 3 Combustible Turbines placed in the Southeast Sector. The community does not want them and these CTs should be sold. If not they could all go to the area near the San Francisco Airport where they can be tied easily into the Gird and serve a wider region. We have City Department heads who are clueless trying to make decision that will adversely affect the lives of millions. White guys who do not live the City and have no connection with people of color think next to nothing when is comes to infants dying. These guys all White talk the talk but they do not walk the walk. They have blood on their hands. It is a shame that one has to spell it out because most others just think about calling them racists. Our children are dying. The City and County needs a Blue Print of Solar Projects installed by a company like Spire that has a good track record. PowerLite, Occidental and Next Energy have had their share of projects and do not have a good track record. On public and community outreach they fail and when you approach them they make excuses. It is time the Mayor Gavin Newsom, Jesse Blout, Jared Blumenfeld, Ed Smelloff and Swartz from SFPUC and the others who all are not in touch with the community at large in the Southeast think what is best for the community. Now is the time to cooperate with the community or you will see the same protests that were held because of the mishaps on 3rd Street MUNI Lightrail. Solar in here to stay and I would advice anyone really interested to join the Solar Conference at the Hyatt in San Francisco - October 18 -22, 2004. Leading Solar Companies will be in attendance and I will be attending the conference and will be pushing for Solar in San Francisco. |
