After Mirant's meltdown

MIRANT CORP., which wants to expand its power plant at the foot of Potrero Hill, is in such bad financial straits that its stock has plummeted and the company filed for bankruptcy protection July 14. San Francisco officials need to move quickly to take advantage of this situation – and to make sure it doesn't become an environmental disaster for years to come.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week opposing Mirant's plan to build a new 540-megawatt gas-fired generator on the site. That's a positive step. But the city won't have the final say on the deal – that's up to the California Energy Commission. And given Mirant's bankruptcy, it's entirely possible, even likely, the troubled company will try to raise cash by selling the plant to another big out-of-town energy concern. And that buyer would have powerful financial incentives not only to press for the expansion but also to keep the fossil-fuel plant operating for as long as possible. (Even if the city can develop enough renewable energy in future years that the Potrero plant is no longer needed to keep the lights on in town, a private owner will want to run it anyway, and sell the power elsewhere.)

The city attorney should immediately prepare to enter the bankruptcy case as an intervenor, to protect San Francisco's interests. And the supervisors should launch a study – perhaps as part of the city's Local Agency Formation Commission's ongoing public power study – into the feasibility and cost of the city buying the plant. A city-owned power plant could generate revenue and help form the backbone for a public power system – and the minute the plant can be replaced with an environmentally sound alternative, the city could shut it down. (If S.F. had bought the Hunters Point plant five years ago, that pollution-spewing monster might well be closed today.)