Bill eyes sound's waters for energy

By LES BLUMENTHAL | McClatchy newspapers • Published May 04, 2007

WASHINGTON - A Washington state congressman wants to boost research funding by $500 million and provide tax incentives for tidal and wave energy projects such as those being considered in Puget Sound and off the Pacific coast.

"There is enormous energy in water, and we just need to figure out how to harness it," said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. He added that some energy analysts predict up to 20 percent of the nation's energy needs eventually could be met with electricity generated by the tides or waves.

Inslee's bill comes as Tacoma Power is exploring the possibility of tapping the tides in the Tacoma Narrows to produce electricity, while Snohomish Public Utility District is looking at five other Puget Sound sites including Admiralty Inlet, Deception Pass and Agate Passage.

Near Makah on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, a Canadian company has applied to federal regulators for a permit to build a pilot project to use the kinetic power of waves to generate electricity.

The Northwest coast is considered one of the best locations in the world to produce electricity from waves. In the United States, Puget Sound is second only to San Francisco Bay in terms of tidal power potential.

So far, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued nearly three dozen permits for preliminary wave and tidal energy projects.

"Inslee's bill would help spur this along," said Bill Gains, superintendent of Tacoma Power.

In November, Washington voters approved an initiative requiring that major utilities in the state get 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2020.

The federal government is spending nothing on research and development of tidal and wave energy, said Christopher Powers, an Energy Department spokesman based in Golden, Colo., home of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

While such research and development funding was available in the past, it was dropped after it was decided that wave and tidal power faced too many problems and would be too expensive to develop.

Inslee disagrees. His bill would provide $50 million in funding annually for 10 years.

"Compared to the challenge we face with global warming, this is modest," Inslee said.

The measure also includes investment and production tax credits and would require the departments of Commerce and the Interior to work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to develop an environmental impact statement reviewing the possible effects of tidal and wave energy generation on fish and wildlife.

"A preliminary review shows the effects will be modest," Inslee said.

With a $164,787 grant from the Bonneville Power Administration, Tacoma Power is studying the Narrows and eventually will have to decide whether the tidal flows can justify proceeding with a pilot project.

A preliminary analysis concluded the Tacoma Narrows holds "significant promise." Sixty-four underwater turbines near the north end of the Narrows could produce enough electricity to supply 11,000 homes. Such a project could cost more than $100 million. A pilot project could cost about $4.2 million.