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Posts Tagged ‘FERC’

JACKIE NOBLETT, Mass High Tech, August 18, 2009
Maine and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will cooperate on the application, review and permitting process for tidal energy projects after signing a memorandum of understanding Wednesday.
The MOU calls for the entities to notify each other when a tidal developer applies for a preliminary permit, pilot project license [...]

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TODD WOODY, The New York Times, August 12, 2009
Pacific Gas & Electric has quietly dropped one of two planned 40-megawatt wave-farm projects.
Stroll through San Francisco and you can’t miss California utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s latest ad campaign. Posters plastered around town read: “Wave Power: Bad for sandcastles. Good for you.”
But PG&E recently dropped one [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, July 19, 2009
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) moved to accelerate the development of a smart electric transmission system that could improve the efficiency and operation of the grid. The Smart Grid Policy Statement sets priorities for work on development of standards for the developement of a reliable and smart grid.
Smart grid advancements are [...]

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UCILIA WANG, GreenTechMeida, July 1, 2009
The draft plan covers how the state would plan and oversee all sorts of projects located within the state waters, including wind, tidal and wave farms.
Massachusetts released a draft of a plan Wednesday that would govern the permitting and management of projects such as tidal and wave energy farms.
Touted by [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, June 17, 2009
The West has been at the forefront of the country’s development and implementation of renewable energy technologies, leading the way in passing effective Renewable Portfolio Standards and harnessing the region’s significant renewable energy resources. The initiatives announced at the recent annual western governors’ meeting offered a collaboration of federal and state efforts [...]

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Electric Light & Power, June 11, 2009
As the Obama administration shapes its policy on transmission planning, siting and cost allocation, the Large Public Power Council (LPPC) has sent a joint letter voicing its transmission policy views and concerns to Energy Secretary Chu, Interior Secretary Salazar, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, FERC Chairman Wellinghoff, White House Council on [...]

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Editor’s Note: On October 14, 2009 John R. Norris’ FERC nomination received endorsement from the U.S. Senate Panel.
MendoCoastCurrent, June 11, 2009
President Barack Obama nominated Iowa Democrat John R. Norris to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, filling the seat vacated by the resignation of former Chairman Joseph Kelliher, a Republican.
Norris was most recently chief of [...]

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MARK CLAYTON, The Christian Science Monitor, June 8, 2009
When giving his slide presentation on America’s new energy direction, Jon Wellinghoff sometimes sneaks in a picture of himself seated in a midnight blue, all-electric Tesla sports car.
It often wins a laugh, but makes a key point: The United States is accelerating in a new energy direction [...]

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JAMES RICKMAN, Seeking Alpha, June 8, 2009
Oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface. As the world’s largest solar collectors, oceans generate thermal energy from the sun. They also produce mechanical energy from the tides and waves. Even though the sun affects all ocean activity, the gravitational pull of the moon primarily drives the [...]

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Excerpts from FRANK HARTZELL’s article in the Mendocino Beacon, June 4, 2009
Ocean Power Technologies’ subsidiary California Wave Energy Partners in it’s “wave energy project proposed off Cape Mendocino has surrendered its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) preliminary permit, making two major companies that have abandoned the area in the past two weeks.
The moves come at [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, May 20, 2009
At this core energy technology incubator, energy policy is created as renewable energy technologies and science move swiftly from white boards and white papers to testing, refinement and implementation.
The Vision
Mendocino Energy is located on the Mendocino coast, three plus hours north of San Francisco/Silicon Valley. On the waterfront of Fort Bragg, utilizing [...]

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Editors Note:  On June 9, 2009, PG&E filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a petition to release the Mendocino WaveConnect preliminary permit.
MendoCoastCurrent, May 11, 2009
In early May 2009, PG&E’s WaveConnect team decided to cancel the Mendocino WaveConnect project because the Noyo Harbor didn’t pass muster and was deemed insufficient in several engineering aspects, [...]

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Excerpts of FRANK HARTZELL’s article, Mendocino Beacon, May 7, 2009
GreenWave Energy Solutions, an “alternative energy startup has been granted a three-year preliminary permit to study wave energy off Mendocino.
It’s locals’ first look at action by a newly recast Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is tasked by the Obama Administration to make a greater push [...]

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MARK CLAYTON, The Christian Science Monitor, April 24, 2009
Three miles off the craggy, wave-crashing coastline near Humboldt Bay, California, deep ocean swells roll through a swath of ocean that is soon to be the site of the nation’s first major wave energy project.

Like other renewable energy technology, ocean energy generated by waves, tidal currents or steady offshore [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, April 23, 2009
In Octoberr 2008 Grays Harbor Ocean Energy applied for seven Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) preliminary permits for projects located in the Atlantic Ocean about 12 to 25 miles offshore off the coasts of New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and in the Pacific Ocean about 5 to 30 miles off the coasts [...]

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H. JOSEF HEBERT, AP/StarTribune, April 22, 2009

Washington D.C. — The Interior Department issued long-awaited regulations on April 22, 2009 governing offshore renewable energy projects that would tap wind, ocean currents and waves to produce electricity.
The framework establishes how leases will be issued and sets in place revenue sharing with nearby coastal states that will receive 27.5% [...]

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COLIN SULLIVAN, The New York Times, April 14, 2009
Palo Alto — Technology for tapping ocean waves, tides and rivers for electricity is far from commercial viability and lagging well behind wind, solar and other fledgling power sectors, a panel of experts said last week during a forum here on climate change and marine ecosystems.
While the [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, March 20, 2009
Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), led by Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, filed this FERC Smart Grid Policy Statement introducing a proposed Smart Grid, interoperability standards with an interim period rate plan.  FERC has invited comments by May 1, 2009. 
FERC offered this summary:
This proposed policy statement and action plan provides guidance to inform [...]

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Editor’s Note:  On September 21, 2009 FERC Commissioner Suedeen Kelly declined a nomination to serve a second term on the panel. Kelly, a Democratic commissioner nominated by President Obama, said she was leaving her post for the private sector.  A FERC spokeswoman said Kelly would remain in her seat until Congress adjourns later this year.
In [...]

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Cherry Creek News Staff, March 17, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC – In a joint statement issued today Secretary of the Interior (DOI), Ken Salazar and Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Jon Wellinghoff announced that the two agencies have confirmed their intent to work together to facilitate the permitting of renewable energy in offshore [...]

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Ocean Energy Council, March 17, 2009
Researchers in Dania Beach, Fla., landed almost $1.2 million in a federal grant to continue working on an underwater turbine prototype that will use ocean currents to generate power.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) joined Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla., today to announced the funding [...]

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EVAN LEHMANN, The New York Times, March 17, 2009
The oceans might not be big enough for sharp-elbowed renewable energy developers. Aspiring power producers are claiming sweeping stretches of sea along the East Coast, sometimes overlapping each other and igniting modern-day allegations of “claim jumping.”
Open water miles from shore is the newest frontier for prospectors, as [...]

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H. JOSEF HEBERT, The Associated Press, March 16, 2009
While the Obama administration has touted offshore renewable energy development, a turf fight between two federal agencies has stymied the government’s ability to issue rules needed to approve wind energy projects off America’s coasts.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday the infighting has got to stop.
“It will be resolved,” Salazar said [...]

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TOM DOGGETT, Reuters, March 12, 2009
WASHINGTON – Congress should give the federal government more authority to approve extra powerful transmission lines to move electricity generated by renewable sources, overriding state objections when necessary, a top energy regulator said on Thursday.
Broader federal authority would help meet President Barack Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. production of renewable [...]

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CHRIS NEWKUMET, Platts.com, March 9, 2009
US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Joseph Kelliher on Monday said he will leave the agency March 13.
Kelliher was chairman of FERC from July 9, 2005, until January 22, 2009, and has served at the commission since November 20, 2003.
Just before the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Kelliher announced he [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, March 11, 2009
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that he has just signed his first order establishing renewable energy generation as the top priority of the Department of the Interior. Following President Obama’s lead in steering the United States into this new energy path, he said this agenda would create jobs and grow [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, February 14, 2009
Acting Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff recently published Facilitating Hydrokinetic Energy Development Through Regulatory Innovation. 
Consider it required reading as a backgrounder on US wave energy policy development, FERC’s position on the MMS in renewables and FERC’s perceived role as a government agency in renewable energy, specifically marine energy, development.
Missing from this key [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent from Platts Energy Podium, February 12, 2009
The recently approved Economic Stimulus Plan includes expanding the US electric transmission grid and this may be the just the start of what will be a costly effort to improve reliability and deliver renewable energy to consumers from remote locations, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Chairman Jon [...]

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Publisher’s Note:  Feb 09, 2009 – Not only has Finavera surrendered their Makah Bay license noted below, they also announced surrendering the Humboldt County, California Preliminary Permit to explore wave energy:
“Finavera Renewables has filed applications to surrender its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license for the Makah Bay Wave Energy Pilot Project in Washington and the [...]

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SUSAN CHAMBERS, The World, February 4, 2009
Coos Bay, Oregon — The jobs are coming, so Ocean Power Technologies insists.
OPT spokesman Len Bergstein said Monday the company wants to get stimulus funds from the federal government.
“We have a strong interest in presenting a project that would be jobs-ready right now,” Bergstein said.
OPT wants to get a [...]

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SUSAN CHAMBERS, The World, February 3, 2009
Coos Bay — The announcement came as a surprise to everyone.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Thursday order issuing a preliminary permit for a 200- to 400-buoy wave energy project off of Newport shocked Ocean Power Technologies leaders as well as the public.
“It’s a project, a site that is not [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, January 29, 2009
At his first White House press conference, President Obama declared “the days of Washington dragging its heels are over” and ordered an immediate review of the Bush administration’s refusal to give California authority to enforce tougher emission and fuel efficiency standards on gas and diesel automobiles.
For more than two years California [...]

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Editors Note:  On May 11, 2009, PG&E pulled-out of Mendocino WaveConnect, read it here: http://tinyurl.com/qwlbg6 . The remains of the $6M are now solely allocated to Humboldt WaveConnect.
MendoCoastCurrent, January 29, 2009
PG&E caught a major renewable energy wave today as the California Public Utilities Commission approved $4.8 million in funding their centerpiece wave energy [...]

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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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MendoCoastCurrent, January 29, 2009
As the Monday, February 9, 2009 before 2 p.m. deadline for filing FERC Motion to Intervene papers regarding the Green Wave LLC wave energy preliminary permit off the Mendocino village coast approaches, locals, the City of Fort Bragg and fishing organization are participating and electronically filing their views with FERC.
Here’s the excellent [...]

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Susan Chambers, The World, January 26, 2009
Coos Bay, Oregon – Ocean Power Technologies is feeling pressure as local groups, the state and even the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission urge the company to shrink its 200-buoy Coos Bay plan.
Oregon Wave Energy Partners I, as Ocean Power Technologies, filed its notice of intent and preliminary application document [...]

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KATE GALBRAITH, The New York Times, January 26, 2009
Almost lost amid President Barack Obama’s stream of appointments was that of Jon Wellinghoff as Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The FERC’s duties include regulating interstate transmission of electricity, watching over the nation’s wholesale electricity markets and also licensing new hydropower projects.
Mr. Wellinghoff — [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, January 27, 2009
Washington, D.C. — On January 23, 2009, President Barack Obama has named Jon Wellinghoff acting chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Wellinghoff responded that he looks forward to serving the president and the nation in this capacity.
“I thank President Obama for the opportunity to lead FERC at a time when [...]

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SIOBHAN HUGHES, Dow Jones News, January 26, 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to consider allowing California to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles, a policy that could spur the development of new vehicles.
“The federal government must work with, not against, states to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions,” Obama said at a press conference filled [...]

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CASSANDRA PROFITA, The Daily Astorian, January 26, 2009
In a move eagerly anticipated by liquefied natural gas opponents on the North Coast of Oregon, President Barack Obama has named Jon Wellinghoff acting chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“The move, together with likely changes to the board’s makeup in the coming months and pending challenges to [...]

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FRANK HARTZELL’s article with MendoCoastCurrent edits, January 15, 2009
After nearly two years of local pleas for specifics on the WaveConnect project, PG&E representatives surprised Fort Bragg and Mendocino County representatives with many new details.
Those included the promise by PG&E that all environmental studies would be public, not private information. In the recent past, PG&E had [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, January 8, 2009
Key President-elect Barack Obama renewable energy quotes from his January 8, 2009 speech to the U.S. Congress and citizens, on his top economic priorities as he takes office.
“. . .the first question that each of us asks isn’t ‘what’s good for me?’ but ‘what’s good for the country my children will inherit?”
On [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, January 7, 2009
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher today issued the following statement:
Today I announce my intention to step down as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), effective January 20, 2009. Although my term as commissioner does not end until 2012, I will also immediately begin to recuse myself from [...]

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DAVID EHRLICH, Earth2Tech/GigaOm, December 23, 2008
Ocean energy could have a big part to play under President-elect Barack Obama’s environmentally friendly administration, but a coalition that’s pushing for more wave and tidal power says change is needed to expand the number of projects in the U.S. Right now, there are only a handful of ocean energy projects [...]

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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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JOHN DRISCOLL, The Times-Standard, December 15, 2008
A white paper commissioned by the state of California says that tapping the ocean for power should be done carefully.
The report for the California Energy Commission and the Ocean Protection Council looked at the possible socio-economic and environmental effects of the infant industry, including what it might mean for [...]

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Excerpts from FRANK HARTZELL’s article at the Mendocino Beacon, December 11, 2008
On December 9, 2008  “the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted a Southern California development company exclusive rights to 17 square miles off the town of Mendocino for a wave energy study.
GreenWave LLC’s intent is to eventually produce a 100 megawatt wave energy power [...]

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TED NESI, Providence Business News, December 5, 2008
The list of suitors lining up to develop renewable energy projects off Rhode Island’s coastal waters is getting longer.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has begun reviewing a permit application from Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Co., a year-old company based in Seattle, to build 100 large towers that [...]

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Guardian.co.uk, December 3, 2008
Way back in Napoleonic Paris, a Monsieur Girard had a novel idea about energy: power from the sea. In 1799, Girard obtained a patent for a machine he and his son had designed to mechanically capture the energy in ocean waves. Wave power could be used, they figured, to run pumps and [...]

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GERRY NORLANDER, Pulp Network, November 25, 2008
President-elect Obama has named Dr. Susan Tierney and Rose McKinney-James to his transition team for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is organizationally within DOE.
Both appointees, former state utility commissioners of Massachusetts and Nevada, respectively, have a record of supporting electricity industry [...]

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KEVIN FERGUSON, The Information Week, November 24, 2008
Where is President-elect Barack Obama headed with environmental protection and renewable energy? The answer lies not so much in the encouraging but ultimately self-serving video posted on the transition team’s Web site, but rather on links elsewhere on the page. In particular, look at the appointment of senior transition [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, November 17, 2008
Announcements and short biographies of Obama’s Team Leads that oversee renewable energy policy development and associated agencies.
Energy and Natural Resources Team Lead
David J. Hayes is a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group responsible for the energy and natural resources agencies. He is former Global Chair of the Environment, [...]

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MICHELLE MA, Seattle Times, November 17, 2008
What started out as a mad dash to extract energy from the ocean’s waves and tides has slowed to a marathoner’s pace — complete with a few water breaks and sprained ankles along the way.
In the past three years, more than 100 preliminary permits have been issued nationally for [...]

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MendoCoastCurrent, November 9, 2008
MendoCoastCurrent applauds Frank Hartzell’s reporting in the Fort Bragg Advocate-News and the Mendocino Beacon, and in winning reporting awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers Contest for work published in 2007. The awards were recently announced at CNPA’s annual awards luncheon in late October 2008.
Reporter Frank Hartzell’s on-going, in-depth and [...]

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Publisher Note:  FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher announced his resignation effective January 20, 2009.
GERRY NORLANDER, Pulp Network, November 5, 2008
With the election of a new president comes renewed speculation about leadership change at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in an Obama administration.
The president . . . can designate a new chairman, who generally will belong [...]

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