NEWS: Can a publicly-owned grid solve high energy bills? San Francisco is determined to find out.

A local takeover: San Francisco city officials have been working for years to buy the local PG&E power grid—and they’re getting closer. This week, the city approved a final environmental impact report for the acquisition, against PG&E’s appeals to deny it. 

The motivation: Owning the local grid would allow the SFPUC to “focus on reliability and affordability for our customers,” PUC general manager Dennis Herrera said in a statement. 

The nitty gritty: The city will now need to go before the CA PUC to parse out what local grid is worth (SFPUC estimates it’s $3.4GB). San Francisco would borrow money from investors through ‘revenue bonds,’ then repay them using money collected from electric rates. And if PG&E doesn’t agree to the purchase? The city could force a sale through eminent domain.   

Meanwhile, on a different coast: New York state is moving towards its clean energy goals with new funding for eight bulk energy storage and 13 large-scale renewable projects. Combined, they’re set to provide 1.7GW and generate $3.7B in private investment.