Get Involved !
Treasure Island Residents are asking for TIDA & The SFPUC to contact Tesla to use their battery backup tech to solve 20 year problem and stop the over 150 power outages we have experienced .
They can use the following link https://www.tesla.com/utilities
Email The Following Contacts and link them to this website!
Haney Staff (BOS) haneystaff@sfgov.org
Bob Beck (MYR) bob.beck@sfgov.org
John Scarpulla (PUC) JScarpulla@sfwater.org
Francis Zamora(DEM) francis.zamora@sfgov.org
Peter Summerville (TIDA) Peter.Summerville@sfgov.org
Contact Matt Haney’s Office with this form https://tinyurl.com/contactmatthaney
If You’re A Resident File Complaint with CPUC’s Consumer Affairs Branch @ https://tinyurl.com/TIPOWEROUTAGE
The complaints portal of the CPUC’s Consumer Affairs Branch (CAB) exists to assist consumers in resolving disputes involving their regulated utility providers. Our team of specialized caseworkers will work with you to determine the facts of each case and then interact with the utilities to attempt to resolve any and all problems. We process thousands of complaints each year and can play a constructive role in mediating difficult issues.
https://sftreasureisland.org is the official treasure island website.
Residents Should Check Out
https://www.sf72.org/hazard/electric-outages
For Guidance On How To Prepare For A Power Outage.
Let’s get connected Treasure Island and sign up for AlertSF.
Simply text 94130 to 888-777.
AlertSF will send you a text alert for emergencies or significant disruptions on the island.
Follow
https://www.facebook.com/treasureislandsfpoweroutages
https://twitter.com/TiSFpoweroutage
for info of power outages affecting Treasure island
These Power Outages Have Been Ongoing Since The 2000's. The Following Graph Is Power Outages On TI Since 2011, This is when The SFPUC Officially Started Tracking Them.
Updates From Matt Haney’s/TIDA/ SFPUC Offices.
Update Number One - September, 3rd 2019
“in response to the website and inquiry from Barklee, we’ve asked PUC Power to put together a White Paper on the potential applicability of micro-grid technology in supporting the Island during service interruptions. Considering the existing Island distribution system and the number of currently occupied buildings on-Island.
The Puerto Rico model was installation of backup batteries at a series of individual critical facilities. The residents proposal seems to be more of an all-encompassing “master battery power source” to stand the entire Island grid back up during an on-Island unplanned outage.
Will definitely share the PUCs analysis with you once it’s completed, and I imagine we’ll share it with the community and interested residents as well.”
Update Number Two - October 10th 2019
Please check out https://tinyurl.com/TIWHITEPAPER
SF PUC white paper discussing the concept of photovoltaic systems for energy collection/transmission, as well as battery backup adaptation of PV system, applied at both a grid level and an individual facility level.
What we have learned from this white paper, when applied specifically to the TI/YBI Distribution System, is that a PV/battery system at a grid level would unfortunately not allow for additional reliability or redundancy Island-wide as the causes of unplanned all-Island power outages are on the Distribution System (equipment failures, bird strikes of HV lines, weather damage to HV lines/poles, etc). As these causes are not tied to transmission into the TI/YBI Distribution System, a grid-level PV/battery system intended to provide a backup source of electric transmission into the Distribution System would still be rendered moot on a shorted Distribution System. The Island does have two primary on-Island generators that provide alternate transmission into the Distribution System when there is a transmission-level interruption from the primary transmission source at the Port of Oakland, most recently these generators served that purpose this past August during daylong maintenance work at Port of Oakland. These generators also do not function to provide alternate resiliency to the Island Distribution if the outage cause is on the Distribution System itself.
The white paper also speaks to building-level applicability of combination PV/battery or standalone battery back-up systems, such as the Tesla “Powerwall”. This is a viable option for individual buildings, and was the general model employed in Puerto Rico to re-energize hospitals and other critical facilities on an emergency basis after Hurricane Maria. In speaking with SFPUC Power, individual installations of Powerwalls or similar products from other manufacturers can happen in a manner that would not cause adverse impacts on the existing Island grid.
If Island residents or households are interested in pursuing installation of Powerwall or similar systems to allow additional resiliency for their residence during Island-wide outages, they may contact their residential property manager to begin the process as a requested Modification to Residential Unit. As with any other proposed Unit Modification, costs would need to be borne by the requesting resident/household and all applicable City project reviews/approvals, including those by Department of Building Inspection related to the building electrical system modifications, must be met, along with any additional requirements or direction issued by the residential property manager.
Please feel free to let us know if there are any questions at this time, particularly on the White Paper contents, as TIDA and PUC are happy to discuss further.
Thank you.
Peter Summerville Treasure Island Development Authority Peter.Summerville@sfgov.org
Update Number Three - October 17th 2019
I can let you know that TIDA is currently in the process of working to modify Treasure Island Gymnasium with secondary electrical service connections so that it’s electrical service can be switched from grid power to a back-up generator, which will allow for the City to stand-up the Gymnasium as a respite location for residents during an extended on-Island power outage, even if there is a short or other damage inside the TI Distribution System itself (which is the limiting factor when considering Island-wide redundancy during an outage).
This temporary service to the Gym would be provided by a generator in order to assure any necessary length of run time and use of the building for larger loads (such as portable heaters and charging of powered medical devices). We would need to make sure that there’s consistent energy transmission into the building in such an event, and a fueled generator assures that reliability if the outage is of extended duration.
As you can imagine, standing up such a support facility can take up to several hours, considering the City’s mustering of staff, equipment and supplies necessary to activate such a resource at TI Gym. An extended on-Island outage, such as last Presidents Day, when we know there is going to be a multi-hour outage period, is the scenario for this Gym activation, as opposed to some of our more standard outages causes, such as damaged equipment, which are usually resolved in a few hours time. Nonetheless, we do see it as another step in improvement and supporting the Island community during such power outage incidents.
We will be keeping the community posted on this work over the next several months, and we are already engaged with the City’s Dept of Public Health and Human Services Agency in analyzing and understanding the various loads associated with powered-medical devices, as assuring a location for redundant charging of residents medical-devices during an extended on-Island outages is a primary focus of such a respite facility. Your comment/suggestion about the cell sites is a good one as well, we will be reaching out to the cellular carriers with on-Island cell sites to understand what their existing back-up capacity is, and advocating for them to consider improvements or upgrades to add or extend their existing back-up power for this infrastructure.
TIDA will also be distributing a message to the community today regarding our resiliency with regards to PG&E PSPS; the good news with regards to that is as PSPS impacts transmission from off-Island, we will respond to any PSPS impacts to the Island in the East Bay by activating the on-Island primary generators which will power the entire TI/YBI Distribution System and assure the Island remains energized.
Lastly, PUC asked me to clarify for you their prior statement in your communications with Emily Lam regarding their experience and prior projects with Tesla. It turns out PUC and TIDA have worked together on the San Francisco mainland on charging stations, not utility-grid-level installations or projects. Apologies for any confusion on that. As I pointed out, the White Paper discusses the limitations on PV/battery back-up at a grid-level when applying the concept to the Island grid.
Peter Summerville Treasure Island Development Authority (415) 274-0665 – ph Peter.Summerville@sfgov.org
I want you to read the next sentence and then stop until you have come up with a number.
How long can your refrigerator go without power until the food inside reaches an unhealthy temperature?
According to the FDA it's 4 hours. Now I want you to read the next sentence and then stop.
How much would it cost to fill your refrigerator from scratch?
According to Chicago Tribune estimates, it would cost at least $247.03. In a six week period between March and April 2019 alone, the power went out in the entire neighborhood on Treasure Island five times, sometimes at intervals as long as 12 hours. Long enough for all of the food in your refrigerator to spoil. By the estimates, it would be at a loss of $1235.15 in groceries.
For the past 20 years, the 2500 residents of Treasure Island have had to deal with regular power outages, the largest of many problems making island life stability largely unattainable. “Tesla's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.” The citizens of Treasure Island are appealing to your company to compassionately fulfill that mission on Treasure Island by providing the equipment and installation of powerwall-backed solar technology; solar capability that would not only spread sustainable energy, but be a last hope for that community's sustainability. Your contribution would bring humanitarian relief to the sick and elderly and change life trajectories for younger and future generations. Tesla would be credited with.
Treasure Island is San Francisco’s best kept dirty little secret because the island does not even come up in a Google search until you reach the end of the second page of results. This result is not even an article about the poor conditions on the island, it is just the first result that acknowledges Treasure Island’s existence.
The number of power outages on this midpoint island between San Francisco and Oakland had been decreasing since 2015, but 2019 has brought with it a sharp uptick in the frequency and length of outages. What's worse is that nobody is accepting responsibility for this problem. The contractor that services the grid explained, during a May 7 town hall meeting, that it cannot use rate payers’ money for improvements because the authority to do so does not belong to them. The Treasure Island Development Authority, whom does have the authority, is claiming they can do nothing to improve the situation because there are no plans for upgrades until they are further in their redevelopment plan for the island. Best case scenario is change in two years.
Quotes From Treasure Island Residents.
But an astronomical amount of food is spoiling now.
Life-preserving medical devices are powering down now.
People are enduring dangerously low temperatures without heat now.
Tears abounded as one by one residents told their stories during that same meeting:
“My mom is on oxygen – on a condenser. Every time the power goes out, I’m in serious trouble." -Emily Rappaport
“Every time you have a power outage, our sewage is cut off completely. We have sewage backing up in our homes. We are sitting without any food, so our kids can’t eat. (It) is ridiculous that I can’t feed my cat or my children...We have to walk out and find cell reception somewhere to even respond to... attempts to communicate with us." -A local mother
Treasure Island Town Hall Recorded By Carol Harvey