The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s proposed contract with J-Power to operate “peaker” combustion turbine power plants in southeast San Francisco is a harmful and short-sighted solution to local energy production and reliability. Peakers are expensive and polluting, and the southeast neighborhoods have long borne the brunt of the city’s environmental health hazards. San Francisco can meet reliability goals through new cable projects, energy efficiency and demand management. We urge the Board of Supervisors to reject peakers and the contract.

Instead of wasting stormwater, the City could manage it as a resource. SPUR explores four strategies that allow for greater stormwater storage and infiltration of rainwater into the ground.

The story of this small battle informs how we think about working toward institutional change, and along the way, what it takes to move away from fossil fuels.

The plan to replace Doyle Drive with a new parkway that will pass underground at key locations presents an opportunity to reconnect the heart of the Presidio to Crissy Field and the Bay.

San Francisco's long-term economic and environmental well-being is vulnerable to an aging electric power infrastructure. This paper presents options for electrical generation and upgrading the regional transmission system.