San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
| San Francisco Public Utilities Commission | |
|---|---|
| SFPUC | |
| Agency overview | |
| Jurisdiction | City and County of San Francisco |
| Headquarters | 1155 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 |
| Employees | ~2,800 |
| Annual budget | $816.5m USD (2011-12) |
| Agency executives | Ed Harrington, General Manager Michael Carlin, Deputy General Manager |
| Website | |
| sfwater.org | |
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is a public agency of the City and County of San Francisco that provides water, wastewater, and electric power services to the City and an additional 1.6 million customers within three San Francisco Bay Area counties.[1] Since its creation in February 2005, the SFPUC Power Enterprise Division has supplied power to many City facilities including Muni, San Francisco International Airport as well as the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation districts.[2]
The SFPUC manages a complex water supply system consisting of reservoirs, tunnels, pipelines and treatment facilities and is the third largest municipal utility agency in California. The SFPUC provides fresh water from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to 2.4 million customers for residential, commercial and industrial uses. Near one-third of its delivered water is sent to customers within San Francisco, while the remaining two-thirds is sent to Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. Aside from delivering water, it also has the responsibility to treat wastewater before returning it into the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.[3]
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[edit] Historical Origins
From the mid-19th Century, much of the Alameda County watershed was owned by the Spring Valley Water Company (SVWC), a private enterprise which held a monopoly on water service to San Francisco.[4][5]
In 1906, William Bowers Bourn II, a major stockholder in the SVWC, and owner of the giant Empire Mine, hired Willis Polk to design a "water temple" atop the spot where three subterranean water mains converge, from the Arroyo de la Laguna and Alameda Creeks, the Sunol infiltration galleries, and a 30-inch pipeline from the artesian well field of Pleasanton.[6][7]
Municipal efforts to buy out the SVWC had been a source of constant controversy from as early as 1873, when the first attempt to purchase it was turned down by San Francisco voters because the price was too high.[8] Other sources claim that as one born into wealth and classically educated, Bourn was partially motivated by a sense of civic responsibility.[9]
Prior to construction of the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, half of San Francisco's water supply, approximately 6 million gallons per day passed through the Sunol temple.[10] The SVWC, including the temple, was purchased by the city of San Francisco in 1930 for US$40 million.[6][8]
[edit] Structure & Leadership
The SFPUC is headed by a board consisting of five Commissioners, who are nominated by the Mayor of San Francisco and confirmed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Each of the five Commissioners is chosen according to criteria set forth in the San Francisco City Charter:
Seat 1 on the Commission shall be a member with experience in environmental policy and an understanding of environmental justice issues. Seat 2 shall be a member with experience in ratepayer or consumer advocacy. Seat 3 shall be a member with experience in project finance. Seat 4 shall be a member with expertise in water systems, power systems, or public utility management, and Seat 5 shall be an at-large member.[11]
The Commission meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Their responsibility is to provide operational oversight in areas such as rates and charges for services, approval of contracts, and organizational policy. The current Commission is composed of[12]:
- Anson Moran - President of the Commission
- Senator Art Torres (Ret.) - Vice President of the Commission
- Ann Moller Caen - Commission Member
- Francesca Vietor - Commission Member
- Vince Courtney - Commission Member
The board appoints a General Manager as the chief executive of the SFPUC, with each division headed by an Assistant General Manager (AGM). The six divisions are: Business Services, External Affairs, Infrastructure Division, Power Enterprise, Water Enterprise, and Wastewater Enterprise.[13]
[edit] See also
- Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
- Hetch Hetchy Valley
- Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct
- O'Shaughnessy Dam
- Sunol Water Temple - an unusual structure owned by the SFPUC
- Pulgas Water Temple - an inoperative structure similar to the Sunol Water Temple
- Crystal Springs Park, California
[edit] References
- ^ About SFPUC, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
- ^ Power, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
- ^ Water, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
- ^ Chris Metinko (2 January 2006). "City owns a hearty connection to beer". The Contra Costa Times.
- ^ Matt Smith (22 September 2004). "Big Dam Mess". SF Weekly. http://www.sfweekly.com/2004-09-22/news/big-dam-mess/. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
- ^ a b Hanson, Warren D. (1994). San Francisco Water and Power: A History of the Municipal Water Department and Hetch Hetchy System (3rd edition ed.). San Francisco, CA: City and County of San Francisco. OCLC 31224846.
- ^ Hanson, Warren D. (2005). San Francisco Water and Power: A History of the Municipal Water Department and Hetch Hetchy System (6th edition ed.). San Francisco, CA: City and County of San Francisco. OCLC 60658054.
- ^ a b Communications and Public Outreach (2002). "History of the SFPUC". SF Public Utilities Commission. Archived from the original on 2005-02-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20050204025641/http://sfwater.org/main.cfm/MC_ID/5/MSC_ID/37. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
- ^ Brechin, Gray A. (1999). "Water Mains and Bloodlines". Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 0520215680.
- ^ Teresa Brown (29 November 2002). "Welcome to Sunol". Pleasanton Weekly. http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/morgue/2002/2002_11_29.sunol29.html. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
- ^ "San Francisco Municipal Code - 1996 Charter". San Francisco Municipal Code - 1996 Charter. American Legal Publishing Company. http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/California/charter_sf/1996charter?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:sanfrancisco_ca$sync=1. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "Commissioner Biographies". San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. http://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=422. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ^ "SFPUC Executive Management". San Francisco PUC. http://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=68. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
[edit] External links
- San Francisco Public utilities Commission official website
- San Francisco Telecommunications Commission (most Cable and some Telecom oversight) (code)
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