The foolishness of the moment is how the City and County of San Francisco is addressing the Energy Plan which does not address the situation at hand in its totality.
We have several players who have been trying to help the city and we have no master blue print in mind. There are some that are for solar and wind power. Others focused on the 4 Combustible Turbines. There are others who think they can produced tidal energy right under the Golden Gate Bridge and light it for all the world to see. Still others who think by repairing, replacing, and maintaining the transmission lines both within and outside the City zones much good energy can flow in and out and round about. I was at the last California Public Utilities Commission meeting. Speaker after speaker in the morning session alluded to the very high price of Gas. In fact all over the world, countries that depend on Gas are going to face very high gas prices. The Combustible Gas Turbines are very expensive. A full 90% of the operation of these Combustible Turbines is the cost of gas Ð in this case very high prices. Over the years the 4 Combustible Turbines will cost the ratepayers over a billion dollars. This is not cost effective. This cost will affect the ratepayers who will experience very high-energy bills. Of course the District 10 Supervisor who is dumb, ignorant, and arrogant does not care. The puppets Edward Smeloff and Patricia Martel could not care else. They are paid highly for very poor input and quality of work that adversely impacts the constituents of San Francisco. The Williams Company is laughing all the way to the bank. It gave us some 4 Combustible Turbine Engines and with one scoop led the City and those who fell for the ploy down the path of total confusion and erratic planing that fails to do any justice to any sensible Energy Program. Pacific Gas and Electric has taken a full-page advertisement in the San Francisco Independent. It says help us close the Hunters Point Plant. If you share our goal of closing the plant by the end of 2005, we ask you to join us in the Close it! Coalition. Signed Bob Harris vice President -mental Affairs, PG&E. This is one more ploy to fool the constituents and of course some will fill the coupon at the end of the page and send it to PG&E who will use the information to best suit whatever dubious plan it has in mind. For the longest period ever PG&E has always stated that CAISO the non-profit corporation that operates California's electrical grid makes the call. Now suddenly it wants help from those it fleeces to force certain decision that will always help PG&E. A factor to remember is PG&E gets all its money from the ratepayers. The ratepayers pay the bonus that is paid to the fat cat PG&E CEO. If PG&E chooses to retrofit its plant the ratepayer pays it. If PG&E choose to extend and expand its operation the ratepayer pays it. PG&E is laying new transmission line all over the City and County of San Francisco. On San Bruno Avenue PG&E is laying conduits that can accommodate not only transmission lines but also other utilities. Just like General Electric, PG&E is learning that it too can facilitate and make a fast buck all at the expense of the ratepayer. Every month most homeowners pay huge PG&E bills. You would require a Ph.D. to figure out the rates and the end total of any bill. Over the years PG&E has mastered the method of deceiving and what is more coming out with an answer. Try reaching a live person from PG&E and you will not succeed. Punch one for this and two for that and three of the other and four to get lost. Back to the City of San Francisco, which has tried to come out with a solution and has gotten no where. We have tried to report about LAFCO. LAFCO has taken us for a nice ride and on the back of the Beck report, which as I said previously has closed links to the deep pockets PG&E. We do not need the Power Plant at Hunters Point it should be shut down as soon as possible. We do not need the Power Plant at Mirant, which is not on Potrero Hill but closer to Hunters Point. We also do not need the 4 Combustible Turbine Engines. We should fix our transmission lines all over the City and those out side the City. We have to address on a war foot the thousands of small business that consume too much energy. Help them replace antiquated equipment. We should also give full assistance to homes, single and multi-unit dwelling to conserve energy with fixtures and equipment that save energy. Downtown too many high rise buildings get a break, time for them to shell out and pay the fair price. Time for us to consume all of the power we own from Hetch Hetchy. The Raker Act was created so that we could get and consume our Energy from Hetch Hetchy. It was also created so that the City and County of San Francisco could have the best fresh water. We should remember we stole the Hetch Hetchy Valley from the Miwoks. Flooded the valley and all the good that was in it. We did without compensation to the Miwoks. We did it against the wishes of John Muir and a host of wise men and women. Prior to that it was very common in San Francisco using wind power to pump water from the wells. At Golden Gate Park two huge Wind Power Towers pumped all the water we needed. Hundreds of Wind Power Towers did the same at Hunters Point and elsewhere in the City of San Francisco. We have ample space and sites to foster the use of Solar Energy. We should do it by giving Private Entrepreneurs opportunities so that huge amounts of energy can be conserved and much more given back for consummation to the existing GRID. We should not care if PG&E does not like this or if the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission thinks only they are capable of such projects. SFPUC has failed on the Mosone Center Solar Project that was touted as something to watch for. This project could have been successful but it is a failure because of very poor planning. It is a shame at SFPUC had to transfer money from an account dedicated to the Southeast Sector to use it for the Moscone Center fouled operation. We should encourage Wind Power even if the City Planning Department thinks it is against their poor judgment. The eye sore live work units we see all over the City are a disgrace to any sense of wise planning and esthetics. Wind Power Project designed well can and will serve to generate and conserve energy. We have some choice places all over the city and especially south of San Francisco closer to Brisbane. There are many laws today that prevent crooks such as those who participated in the Energy Crisis from adversely impacting the ratepayers. It is time the CPUC, FERC and CAISO review these laws and have a dialog with those constituents who pay very high prices for the energy they consume. The City and County of San Francisco have on its books the Precautionary Principle. This permits the citizens and constituents of San Francisco to sue Mirant, PG&E and all those who cause harm to the citizens of San Francisco within a radius of 6 miles and more. The Precautionary Principle has NOT been brought before the California Public Utilities Commission. It should be brought forth and those so close the to recalled Governor Gray Davis will fully realize the power of this legislation. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission should not be permitted to handle the Energy Plan. If this is done we all will suffer. A private contractor with stringent standards should be permitted to enforce and operate the Energy Plan. From time to time the Private Contractor should report before the Board of Supervisors much like the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. Bye, bye PG&E and farewell Mirant. Both these entities have fleeced the constituents of San Francisco and do not need to be given a second chance. The City and County of San Francisco, the Ethics Committee should study the role played by SFPUC, the Supervisor from District 10, other consultants in trying to vie and install those toxic polluting Combustible Turbines. There should be a liability placed on those who now know that they are very harmful to the citizens within a 6-mile radius and more. The Precautionary Principle safeguards the citizens. Pure foolishness will force us to pay very high gas prices for an operation that is not needed in the Southeast Sector that has already had its share of toxic pollution. As many as 6 out of 10 children suffer from respiratory diseases. One has just to read the recent Asthma Report and one can read it on this website. The money mongers are out there and so are the politicians. The Power Plant operators should be forced out and the City take over the Energy Production and Consumption using clean sources. Time to save and conserve energy on a war footing Ð get rid of the thousands of antiquated equipment mostly used by small businesses. Homeowners in the Bayview Hunters Point should be helped with fiscal help as they have suffered the most. Solar panels, energy saving equipment, weatherization, and other innovative conservation methods should be put in force. We have plenty of sun and wind and it is free. We do not need Mirant and Pacific Gas and Electric they are too, too expensive. |