Alvarado Elementary
School Solar Project,
Noe Valley
Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2012
Clean Energy
We investigate every cost-effective,
feasible option for sustainable,
renewable clean energy. From
solar array installations to replacing
inefficient street lights, no project
is too big or too small.
Our commitment to innovation is evident in our
historic, ground-breaking CleanPowerSF program.
San Francisco will be one of the first cities in the
nation to offer residents and businesses the opportunity
to choose a 100% renewable energy supply for their
homes and businesses.
Our diverse clean energy portfolio starts with
hydroelectric powerhouses generating approximately
1.7 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity (the
equivalent annual power usage of 350,000 San
Francisco homes) from gravity-driven water flowing
from three reservoirs. This extraordinary design
generates clean power while delivering 85% of
our city’s delicious Hetch Hetchy water.
In fiscal year ending 2012, we saw a significant
expansion of our power portfolio. We installed solar
arrays at the Tesla Water Treatment Facility, the Muni
Maintenance Yard and the Chinatown Public Health
Center. All three facilities are now fully integrated into
the SFPUC’s electric resource portfolio. In total, we
operate fourteen municipal solar installations which
can generate up to 7.4 megawatts of energy. Our
GoSolarSF program also provides incentive grants so
that we can share this technology with our community.
In addition to the solar arrays on our Southeast and
North Point wastewater treatment plants, we use the
methane gas byproduct of our wastewater treatment
process to generate electricity and hot water. In all,
the combined energy output accounts for 40% of the
treatment plant’s power needs.
We integrate our values into all of our operations,
and that is why we are one of the cleanest energy
utilities in California.
7
8