San Francisco mayor to PG&E: We may make you an offer

San Francisco is taking a step closer to buying PG&E’s electric distribution system in the city.

On Thursday, Mayor London Breed and City Attorney Dennis Herrera sent a letter to PG&E’s interim CEO and its chief financial officer regarding San Francisco’s efforts to study the prospect of buying the company’s electric distribution assets serving the city.

San Francisco began to look more seriously at the public power option in January, after PG&E said it planned to file for bankruptcy protection. Breed and Herrera said they wanted to address company leaders directly to “underscore the seriousness of our purpose and facilitate lines of communication going forward.”

“If we determine the acquisition is feasible, we intend for the city to make a formal offer to PG&E within the coming months as part of the bankruptcy process,” Breed and Herrera said in the letter.

PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo told The Chronicle the company appreciates San Francisco’s “open and transparent dialogue.”

The city already operates a publicly owned water utility. It also sells electricity directly to residents and businesses on Treasure Island and in the Shipyard development. Through CleanPowerSF, it purchases power and sells it to other city residents and businesses, though PG&E handles billing.

The utility’s current situation provides a window of opportunity that San Francisco can’t ignore, said San Francisco Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer.

“We know we are kind of at their mercy because they own the distribution system,” Fewer said. “If we can own that ourselves, just think of what we can do.”

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @thejdmorris