May 6, 2008 12:30 pm US/Pacific
Plan To Replace Aging SF Power Plant Approved
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
After hours of heated debate, San Francisco supervisors have decided to replace a polluting power plant in the Potrero District with four other facilities.
The $250 million project approved Tuesday includes three combustion turbine generators to be built near Potrero hill and another near the San Francisco International Airport.
The so-called peaker plants that would generate about half as much pollution as the existing plant neighborhood activists have been trying for years to close, in part because their use would be limited to times of heavy demand.
The supervisors committee reviewing the plan debated whether an already polluted neighborhood could afford to wait for even greener technology.
Supervisor Michaela Alioto-Pier and others argued in favor of building wind and solar plants. But the head of the Public Utilities Commission, Ed Harrington, described building the four plants as San Francisco's only realistic option.
In 2006, the Hunters Point Power Plant was closed as part of a plan to phase out aging power facilities in the city. The California Independent System Operator that oversees the state's electrical grid is requiring that the city create a reliable source of power generation before it can close the 27-acre Potrero power plant.
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