The CleanPowerSF program will provide $50 for eligible single-family homes, $750 for nonprofit organizations and $3,000 for multi-family homes—the equivalent to a month of savings on the average customer
As part of its ongoing efforts to help customers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) will provide one-time bill credits to eligible CleanPowerSF customers in October. The relief program will offer credits of $50 for single-family homes, $3,000 for multi-family residential buildings and $750 for nonprofit or small commercial accounts—the equivalent to a month’s worth of savings on the average customer’s electricity bill.
“We know that many San Francisco residents and businesses are facing financial hardship from the effects of COVID-19, especially working families and low-income communities,” said SFPUC General Manager Harlan L. Kelly, Jr. “CleanPowerSF is committed to delivering cleaner energy that is affordable and accessible to all of our customers. This new bill relief program aligns with those values and will help support our customers who need it most during this difficult time.”
The $3 million SFPUC initiative will provide bill credits to customers who are enrolled in either the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) or Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) discount programs offered by the state.
Since the City’s Shelter-in-Place order began, San Francisco residents are using about 9 percent more energy compared to previous months. The one-time credit will cover approximately one month’s worth of an average CleanPowerSF customer’s total electricity bill charges, taking into account recent increase in energy use and the CARE or FERA discount.
CARE and FERA are state-wide discount programs available to low-income electricity customers. Customers enroll through their investor owned utility, but the discount is available to eligible customers of community choice aggregation programs, such as CleanPowerSF.
CleanPowerSF customers that enroll in CARE or FERA by September 30, will be eligible for this one-time bill credit. For more information about CleanPowerSF’s bill credit program, visit www.cleanpowersf.org/credit or call (415) 554-0773.
In addition to the electricity bill credit program, the SFPUC has implemented several measures to assist the community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, the SFPUC launched a new financial assistance program that provides 20 percent discounts off water and sewer bills for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. In May, the SFPUC announced an initiative to provide discounts off water, sewer and Hetch Hetchy power and sewer bills to eligible residential customers.
The agency has also postponed liens and collections, waived late fees and provided rental payment deferments for tenants of SFPUC facilities. Additionally, it partnered with its private contracting firms to support more than 45 small businesses in the Bayview with $150,000 in grant funding.
CleanPowerSF launched in 2016 with a mission to provide San Francisco residents and businesses with clean, renewable electricity at competitive rates. After completing citywide program enrollment, CleanPowerSF now serves more than 380,000 customer accounts in San Francisco.
Along with CleanPowerSF, the SFPUC operates Hetch Hetchy Power, the City’s publicly-owned power utility, which provides 100 percent greenhouse gas free energy to public facilities, such as City Hall, San Francisco International Airport, Muni buses, schools and libraries. Collectively, the two programs provide more than 70 percent of the electricity consumed in San Francisco with clean power.