52.2

Risk Grade

Fair

City-county with zero utility-scale solar potential; entirely urbanized built environment with no available land; risk score reflects practical impossibility of utility-scale development rather than regulatory opposition; CleanPowerSF CCA provides 100% renewable electricity default; progressive clean energy policy fully implemented at distributed scale; rooftop solar mandate for new commercial construction

Assessment Snapshot

Population

873965

State Rank

#31

Compliance

60%

Trajectory

Moratorium Status

✓ No Active Moratorium

No specific moratorium information available.

Ordinance & Regulations

Setback Requirements

N/A utility-scale; residential/commercial rooftop standard SF Building Code setbacks

Zoning Mechanism

Building permit only for rooftop and building-integrated solar; utility-scale not applicable in city-county context

Acreage Caps

N/A — no utility-scale land exists

Size Restrictions

N/A utility-scale

Board Sentiment & Political Risk

Sentiment Analysis

Strongly progressive and supportive of clean energy; 100% renewable electricity default via CleanPowerSF; rooftop and distributed storage widely deployed

Basis for Assessment

CleanPowerSF annual reports; SFPUC energy data; SF Planning Dept building permit records; SF Board of Supervisors clean energy legislation

Political Risk Factors

Strongly progressive; full clean energy mandate; CleanPowerSF CCA; 100% renewable procurement target; rooftop/storage focus

Board Members

Aaron Peskin | D | 2026; Connie Chan | D | 2026; Dean Preston | D | 2026; Gordon Mar | D | 2026; Hillary Ronen | D | 2026; Matt Haney | D | 2026; Myrna Melgar | D | 2028; Rafael Mandelman | D | 2028; Shamann Walton | D | 2028; Tom Stefani | D | 2028; Catherine Stefani | D | 2026

Grid, Utilities & State Context

Grid Operator

CAISO — PG&E Balancing Authority (CleanPowerSF CCA distribution)

Utilities

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) — distribution, CleanPowerSF (CCA); SFPUC Hetch Hetchy

State Permitting Process

County zoning + CEQA review required; CEC siting jurisdiction for projects >50 MW on state/federal land; Coastal Commission review for coastal zone; DRECP DFAs streamline desert county permitting

State Incentives

Federal ITC eligible; California Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) for storage; CA Renewables Portfolio Standard procurement; CPUC approved procurement programs

Development Activity

Active/Completed Projects

Denied/Withdrawn Projects

Explore the Full Tracker

View risk assessments for all 3,100+ US counties, compare states, and download detailed ordinance data for your solar development pipeline.

Launch SolarRisk Tracker

San Francisco County, CA — Solar Development Risk Assessment