State's Largest Solar Project Will Create Green Jobs For Underserved San Franciscans Starting In July

San Francisco, CA--May 14, 2009--One day after Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Michela Alioto-Pier announced a plan to begin closing San Francisco's last fossil fuel-burning power plant by year's end, yesterday the Board of Supervisors approved a contract to build what will become the state's largest solar power plant.  Construction of the 5-megawatt Sunset Reservoir solar project will begin in July and the facility should come online just as San Francisco's Potrero Power Plant begins powering down.

Environmental justice and community development activists have highlighted the importance of the requirement that the solar project's workforce be made up of at least thirty percent economically disadvantaged residents of the City's most underserved communities, including Bayview-Hunters Point, the Mission, Chinatown, and the Western Addition.  Supervisor Eric Mar provided a critical voice of support for the proposal, conducting last-minute due diligence on the terms of the solar contract on behalf of his colleagues and embracing an emerging blue-green alliance of community workforce and environmental advocates.

Supervisor Mar has pledged to push the thirty percent community hiring threshold even further, and it is understood that more than half of all jobs on the project will be filled by local San Franciscans.  Hiring will take place over the next several weeks throught the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and jobs are expected to last six months.  It is hoped that the experience gained by workers on this project will translate into continued employment in the green sector and also aid the efforts of Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, David Chiu, John Avalos, and Mar to address the broader issue of strengthening San Francisco's local hiring programs.

SUNSET RESERVOIR SOLAR INSTALLATION
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Hiring Opportunities, Groundbreaking Anticipated in Coming Weeks

San Francisco, CA--May 13, 2009--With yesterday's approval of the Sunset Reservoir solar project, anticipation has built for the project's groundbreaking and the promise of job opportunities for economically disadvantaged San Franciscans.  In sponsoring what will become the state's largest solar installation, Supervisor Carmen Chu has delivered a project that has attracted excitement not just from traditional environmental organizations, but also among community groups eager to develop green jobs for underrepresented communities.

The build-up to yesterday's vote found community-based organizations from Bayview-Hunters Point, Chinatown, the Mission, Visitacion Valley, and the Western Addition walking the corridors of City Hall in support of a solar project that mandates jobs for residents of the City's most underserved communities.  Now, the Sunset District that Supervisor Chu represents will be ground-zero for not only the 5-megawatt solar installation, but also for what workforce advocates hope will be the embodiment of the social justice vision of a green workforce:  people of color, limited English speakers, women, and the formerly incarcerated.  Recruiting for the community hiring positions on the Sunset project is expect to begin as early as next week.

It is hoped that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will seek further opportunities to create large solar installations, taking away lessons from this successful effort and employing the constructive feedback that was raised by Supervisors as the project was debated.  Ironically, the next opportunity for a large-scale solar project arises on the second half of the Sunset Reservoir solar as soon as a seismic retrofit is complete.  Supervisor Chu's leadership in developing solar power on the first half of the Sunset Reservoir is certain to be valuable when the City contemplates installing solar panels on the second half.