ALMOST 30 YEARS after we first exposed the scandal of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s low franchise fee, a majority of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors appears ready to try to renegotiate the agreement and raise the fee – and it appears City Attorney Dennis Herrera is ready to support the board's decision.

And once again, PG&E is fighting back with lies: the San Francisco Chronicle (which has finally noticed there's a story here) quoted a PG&E spokesperson Jan. 7 as saying that an increase in the fee would lead to an increase in local electric rates and quoted Barbara Hale, power policy director for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, as saying that a legal fight with PG&E could cost the city a lot of money.

Let's be real here: electric rates in San Francisco are the same as rates in cities that charge PG&E four times as much in franchise fees. Raising our fees to the same level as, say, San Jose won't raise electric rates here – any more than the ridiculously low fee has reduced them. And any money the city spends fighting a PG&E lawsuit will be a pittance in comparison to the estimated $38 million a year the city could get from raising the fee to a reasonable level.

San Francisco should be aggressively pursuing a total buyout of PG&E's system (and a renegotiated franchise could make that process easier). But the city also needs cash, right now, to meet urgent needs, and the franchise fee – which involves no tax increase on anyone and doesn't have to be approved at the ballot – is a perfect way to get it. As soon as Herrera finishes his legal analysis, the supervisors should direct him to take whatever action is necessary to break the franchise and force PG&E to renegotiate.