By Matthew Hirsch

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will consider for the first time a resolution that, if passed, would put the city on record in opposition to Mirant Corp.'s proposed Potrero Hill power plant expansion.

Sups. Sophie Maxwell and Tom Ammiano introduced the resolution May 6, citing Mirant's shaky financial standing, official allegations of price gouging and market manipulation, the public health and environmental hazards of a proposed new generator, and the city's electricity resource plan as reasons for policy makers to oppose the project.

The proposed legislation presents the latest hurdle for Mirant's plans to add a massive 540-megawatt electric generator to its existing 360-megawatt plant. Problems have long been cited in the design, which would increase pollution and reduce system reliability (see "Potrero Poison," 3/27/02).

Maxwell told us it would be difficult to site, construct, and operate the Potrero facility without the city's support, although the California Energy Commission holds the ultimate authority to approve the project.

"It sends a message certainly to Mirant," Maxwell said. "It sends a message to the ISO [Independent System Operator, which administers California's power grid]. We don't think we need this."

Mirant has argued that the proposed generator is a necessary replacement for the 74-year-old Hunters Point power plant, which has been slated to be decommissioned since 1998. Maxwell said new estimates of the city's electricity needs and the development of a clean power-based electricity resource plan have diminished support for the fossil fuel-powered generator. Mirant spokesperson Pat Dorinson refused to answer our questions, while the ISO and the CEC could not be reached for comment.

"Mirant's Potrero expansion should be stopped because a feasible alternative could avoid its severe and disproportionate impacts on communities of color, while reducing ongoing pollution, improving power system reliability, and providing local jobs," said Greg Karras, senior scientist for Communities for a Better Environment. "It's either going to be Mirant's proposal or it's going to be the alternative electricity plan. They are in direct competition in every way."

Residents of southeast San Francisco have been fighting to stop the Mirant expansion for years, and for even longer have been demanding that the Hunters Point plant be closed. The Potrero Power Plant Citizens Advisory Task Force has twice recommended that the supervisors take action against the project. Legislators may now be poised to take a formal stand against Mirant's expansion plans, but that won't necessarily be the final word on whether the plant gets built.

"I am not fundamentally convinced that we are rid of the possibility of Unit 7 [the proposed generator]," task force member Phil D'Andrade. He doubts Mirant will give up its bid and that the CEC would heed the city's demands.
The resolution is scheduled for a hearing at the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee June 16, 1 p.m., City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 263, S.F.

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