FEEDBACK REQUESTED - Electric Vehicle Charging in Commercial Parking

Mayor Breed and Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Aaron Peskin have introduced an ordinance that will require any commercial parking lot or garage – including the City and County of San Francisco – with more than 100 parking spaces to provide 10% of them for Level 2 charging stations for electric vehicles. The requirement will need to be completed by 2023.

Please click here to review the ordinance and let us know if you have any comments at johnb@boma.com. 

Click here to read a recent story on the issue from the San Francisco Chronicle.

FEEDBACK REQUESTED: San Francisco's 100% Renewable Electricity Requirement for Commercial Property Owners

San Francisco's ordinance requiring 100% Renewable Energy for commercial property owners ordinance is now moving through the legislative process at City Hall and will likely be heard at the Land Use and Transportation Committee soon.

Please click here to review the measure and us know if you have any feedback at johnb@boma.com

BACKGROUND

You can read Mayor London Breed's press release on this topic. Breed announced the proclimation on Earth Day in April 2019.

San Francisco Hazards & Climate Resilience Plan Workshop for Business and Commercial Property Stakeholders - July 9th

The City and County of San Francisco (CCSF) is hosting five workshops with key stakeholders to inform the strategies and implementation of the updated San Francisco’s Hazards and Climate Resilience (HCR) Plan. The HCR Plan presents how community members and San Francisco neighborhoods will be impacted by specific hazards and identifies how CCSF will prepare for and should respond to natural hazards (including earthquake, fire, extreme heat, and flooding) when they occur.

BOMA San Francisco members are invited to participate in a meeting with representatives of businesses and commercial properties located in CCSF to provide feedback on HCR strategies and implementation. This is also an opportunity to build relationships with CCSF agencies and other businesses to share information and coordinate efforts to strengthen the resilience of our community.

During this interactive two hour workshop, you will:

• Learn about hazard issues (including earthquakes, flooding, and extreme heat events) and their impacts on the City & County of San Francisco, as well as existing and planned work to increase resilience.
• Share your experience with hazard events to inform how the government agencies and community groups can improve responses to hazards.
• Provide feedback on draft Hazards & Climate Resilience Plan strategies and how they could be implemented in partnership with residential property owners and managers as well as with other housing stakeholders.

Please RSVP by registering here.

Refreshments will be provided.

FAQs

How do I get to Bluxome Center?

It is 1 block away from the SF Caltrain station and 2 blocks from the K/T and N MUNI lines' stop at 4th & King Streets. There is no dedicated parking onsite, but there are plenty of metered parking spots on Bluxome Street.

Who is coordinating the Hazard & Climate Resilience Planning Process?

The Office of Resilience and Capital Planning is leading this effort in partnership with Department of Emergency Management, Department of Public Health, Department of the Environment, and SF Planning.

Have questions about the purpose or scope of the Hazards & Climate Resilience (HCR) Plan? 

Please contact Jim Buker, HCR Plan Project Manager, at (415) 554-4939

IMPORTANT - PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoff Program

As part of PG&E's Community Wildfire Safety Program, PG&E is implementing additional precautionary measures to help reduce the risk of wildfires. If extreme fire danger conditions threaten a portion of the electric system serving your community - including San Francisco, it may be necessary for them to turn off electricity in the interest of public safety. This is called a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS).

The PSPS Program now includes all electric lines that pass through high fire-threat areas – both distribution and transmission.

While customers in high fire-threat areas (based on the CPUC High Fire-Threat District) are more likely to be affected, a public safety power outage could impact any of the more than 5 million customers who receive electric service from PG&E, including BOMA San Francisco members. This is because the energy system relies on power lines working together to provide electricity across cities, counties and regions.

The Program will affect proactively turning off electric power for safety when extreme fire danger conditions are forecasted. The forecast can arise from high winds, high heat, low humidity, or other factors that contribute to a Red Flag warning. PG&E aims to notify those affected ahead of time, when possible, with a series of texts, social media updates, and other forms of communication that customers may sign up for. They will also utilize the AlertSF system.

What does the PSPS Program mean for BOMA San Francisco Members?

PG&E could decide to shut off power to San Francisco and/or the Bay Area as part of the PSPS Program. 

 Even if San Francisco is not subject to a wildfire, transmission lines that feed San Francisco and run through a shut off area could be affected, thereby turning off electricity to San Francisco. The transmission lines feeding the city primarily run from the east (roughly along Highway 92) and from the south up the Peninsula. The power shutoff could run for the duration of the Red Flag warnings which could last several days.

Many tenants believe that since their building has an 'emergency generator' they will be able to continue business as usual in their office space. Property owners and managers should consider planning for such an event and inform their tenants accordingly.

BOMA San Francisco members and the public can sign up for PG&E notifications to ensure they are on the notification list by going to the PG&E website:

https://www.pge.com/en_US/safety/emergency-preparedness/natural-disaster/wildfires/public-safety-power-shutoff-faq.page

The contact information PG&E currently has probably does not include your company’s emergency management team, but rather an administrative contact in the billing department during normal business hours. Make sure to get your emergency contacts into their 24/7 notification database!

Notifications can also be obtained by signing up for emergency messages from the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management at https://sfdem.org/PUBLIC-ALERTS. A useful website for planning for Red Flag warnings is National Weather Service - California Fire Weather Map https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/fire2/cafw/

Building owners, property managers, engineers and security professionals should all consider the issues that may occur during a Public Safety Power Shutoff.

A special thanks to BOMA San Francisco's Emergency Preparedness Committee members who contributed to this update for the benefit of the commercial real estate community and for all San Franciscans.