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After 12 Year Wait, CleanPower SF Begins Providing Renewable Energy

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – With the flip of a switch, San Francisco took a huge step Sunday towards 100 percent green power. The launch of the CleanPowerSF program comes after nearly a dozen years of political and industry gridlock.

Customers won't notice anything different. Lights will still work the same, but for 7,800 San Francisco residents and businesses, the power is coming from turbines in the Solano County hills.

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The CleanPower SF program is part of the city's plan to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2030.

In the program, the city buys renewable power, then PG&E distributes it on its grid, breaking the company's monopoly.

Customers are automatically enrolled a little at a time, unless they opt out. Over the next five years, the entire city should be phased in.

"You can sit back and relax, and you receive cleaner energy without having to do much, and you pay a little bit less," Tyrone Jue of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission told KCBS. "Or, if you want to really help the environment, you can sign up for 100 percent renewable energy as an option as well."

CleanPower SF is only a quarter percent cheaper than PG&E but it offers a mix of 35 percent renewable energy compared to PG&E's 27 percent. For customers who want the full 100 percent renewable option, it starts at $6 more per month.

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