File Your Comment on Mendocino Wave Energy Development at FERC

Please Take Action By MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2009 before 2:00 pm!
MendoCoastCurrent, January 29, 2009
Just a couple of weeks ago, Ann Miles, Director of Hydropower Licensing at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission visited the Mendocino coast.  The centerpiece of her presentation on January 13, 2009 at Fort Bragg Town Hall was to explain the FERC Hydokinetic [...]

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Mendocino Energy

MendoCoastCurrent, January 17, 2009
Here’s the post from MendoCoastCurrent in the Citizen’s Briefing Book at President-elect Barack Obama’s change.gov site:
Renewable Energy Development (RED) federal task force
Immediately establish and staff a Renewable Energy Development (RED) federal task force chartered with exploring and fast-tracking the development, exploration and commercialization of environmentally-sensitive renewable energy solutions in solar, wind, wave, green-ag, et [...]

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FERC Official Appearing in Fort Bragg January 13, 2009

Excerpts from article by FRANK HARTZELL, The Mendocino Beacon, December 24, 2008
On January 13, 2009, from 5-7p.m. at Fort Bragg Town Hall, a “top official from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will appear to explain the agency’s strategy on developing what it calls “hydrokinetic” power as an alterative energy source.
Ann F. Miles, FERC’s director [...]

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Mendocino County Granted FERC Role as FERC Asserts Position in Mendocino Wave Energy

MendoCoastCurrent, October 16, 2008
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) claimed that it has jurisdiction over hydroelectric projects located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), pointing to laws that define its role.
FERC addressed the jurisdictional question, raised by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Mineral Management Service (MMS), in the context of a rehearing order on [...]

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FERC Conditioned License for Hydrokinetic Projects FAQ’s

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently devised two additional licenses for hydrokinetic projects: 1) Conditioned License; and 2) Pilot Project License. Below you’ll find FAQ’s on the new FERC Conditioned License which also defines the role of the Pilot Project License.
What is a conditioned license?
A conditioned license authorizes the construction, operation, and [...]

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OPT Claims Lead on Wave Energy Firms

The World, Worldwide Ocean Energy News, April 12, 2008
Sport and commercial fishermen, members from related marine industries and Ocean Power Technologies representative Steve Kopf met again Wednesday — and made tentative progress on rebuilding trust.
A robust agenda that included discussing the difference between a traditional licensing process and an integrated licensing process — two different [...]

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Wave Energy Company Cancels Plans for Facility

The World, April 10, 2008
The proposed Florence, Oregon wave energy park is no more.
At least, not on paper.
“Energetech America, under Oceanlinx Limited, respectfully requests to withdraw its preliminary permit application for the Florence Oregon Ocean Wave Energy Project …,” the company said in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 26.
Oceanlinx filed [...]

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FERC Conditioned Licenses: How Helpful Are They?

CAROLYN ELEFANT, Offshore Renewable Energy Law Blog, April 5, 2008
Ever since FERC announced that it would issue conditioned licenses for marine renewables projects, I’ve grappled with whether the policy makes sense for the industry. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a conditioned license is issued following a full environmental review by FERC as well as [...]

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To Residents of the Mendocino Coast

Dear Ocean Guardians:
Now that corporations and Washington D.C. have started claiming our coast for wave energy development, we must take a stand. We are called on behalf of our beloved Mendocino coast and the organisms inhabiting the vast and mighty ocean, source of all life on our Earth.
We embrace a focused intention to [...]

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FERC Rejects Sonoma’s Wave Energy Permit

On April 7, 2008, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the wave permit application of Sonoma County, California, and also the permit application of Lincoln County, Oregon, see attached letter relative to the Sonoma permit, below.
SonomaRejection

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Mendocino County & Fort Bragg File for FERC Rehearing

Recently on April 3 & April 4, 2008, the County of Mendocino and the City of Fort Bragg respectively filed Motions for Rehearing to Intervene in the proposed FERC and PG&E hydrokinetic projects off the Fort Bragg coastline.
To read the Fort Bragg Motion for Rehearing, go here;
To read the County of Mendocino’s Motion for Rehearing, [...]

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FISH Files FERC Request for Rehearing to Intervene

April 1, 2008
Interesting reading…A Request for Rehearing has been filed related to FERC’s Denial of FISH’s Motions to Intervene in PG&E’s Mendocino and Humboldt Wave Energy Projects (read Filing : fish-request-for-rehearing.pdf).
FISH, Fishermen Interested in Safe Hydrokinetics, has become a steering committee led by Mendocino coast locals, John Innes and Jim Martin, as Co-Coordinators and Elizabeth [...]

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Mendocino Wave Energy Moratorium March Recap

In Fort Bragg, California on the Mendocino Coast, March 29, 2008 from 11-NOON

Mendocino Wave Energy Moratorium March
THE FACTS:
PG&E’s Wave Energy Preliminary Permit was Approved & Issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on March 13, 2008.
FERC DENIED The City of Fort Bragg, FISH and the County of Mendocino Motions to Intervene in Mendocino’s Wave [...]

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FERC, Oregon Sign MOU on Wave Energy

News Release from FERC: March 27, 2008
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the state of Oregon have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to coordinate procedures and schedules for review of wave energy projects in state waters off the coast of Oregon. This effort will be undertaken in an environmentally sensitive manner, while taking [...]

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SOORC Group Forms to Discuss Wave Energy

The World, March 22, 2008
COOS BAY — Fishermen, port officials and other interests want potential wave energy companies to consider the “source.”
“Source” is the acronym pronunciation for the Southern Oregon Ocean Resource Coalition — SOORC — a group of about a dozen folks who gathered for the first time Friday to talk about wave energy.
That [...]

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FERC Gives the Green Light to Makah Wave Energy Project

From the Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant, Offshore Energy Renewable Law Blog
When we last checked in on the status of the the first ever conditional license issued by FERC for a wave energy project (Finavera’s 1.4 MW, 4 buoy Makah Bay Offshore Wave Pilot), several parties had challenged FERC’s decision. Two Washington state agencies argued [...]

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Mendocino Wave Energy Moratorium Flyer – Join Us

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Trust Main Issue in Wave Energy Development

Susan Chambers, The World Link, March 21, 2008
REEDSPORT — Fishermen and port officials talked of trust Wednesday night at the Port of Umpqua commission meeting.
The meeting was an impromptu first battleground over what fishermen see as a violation of trust and wave energy company Ocean Power Technologies see as a business decision.
OPT filed a preliminary [...]

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Rhode Island Seeks Wind Farm, Wave Generator Moratorium

PETER B. LORD & NATALIE GARCIA, The Providence Journal, March 5, 2008
The agency that regulates Rhode Island’s coastline has proposed a one-year moratorium on wind farms and wave generators in the state’s coastal waters so it can develop a special management plan that will determine where such projects will be allowed.
Governor Carcieri and two environmental [...]

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Wave Energy Proposals Alarm Locals

FRANK HARTZELL, Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor, March 4, 2008
Fort Bragg, Calif. – From roadless villages in Alaska to remote bends in the Mississippi River, developers are staking claim to thousands of miles of America’s oceans and rivers to test devices that use waves and currents to produce electric power.
Their experiments are launching a [...]

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Finavera Granted FERC Prelim Permit for Humboldt Wave Energy

Finavera Renewables, Vancouver, Canada, February 15, 2008
Finavera Renewables is pleased to announce it has been issued a Preliminary Permit for its proposed 100MW Humboldt County, California wave energy project. The permit approval was granted by the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”).
The preliminary permit is valid for a period of three years, and allows [...]

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Troubled Seas: Washington DOE Challenges FERC License to Makah Wave Energy

ALYSSA MOIR, Marten Law Group, January 30, 2008
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) took the unusual step this month of challenging a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue a license for a wave energy project on the grounds that FERC had approved the project prior to having received certification from the [...]

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FERC Approves Wave Energy Project at Makah

December 2007: Compelling documents — Approved FERC Order and official announcements related to Makah Bay wave energy project being undertaken by Finavera. -LKBlog
Thanks for Tom Schlosser at Morisett Schlosser for these docs: Here is the FERC announcement and the statements of commissioners Spitzer and Kelliher.

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Making Waves—FERC Fast-Tracks Wave Energy Licensing

STEVEN JONES, Marten Law Group, December 12, 2007

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently announced a new policy to promote “hydrokinetic” electricity generation projects — projects which produce electrical power from currents, waves and tides. Under the new policy, hydrokinetic projects may be granted conditional licenses from FERC prior to obtaining other necessary environmental [...]

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