RenewNewEngland.com

Earth Day In Our Backyard

This being Earth Day #40 and federal climate legislation or regulation being promised (or threatened, depending on who you ask), the media is awash in articles, open letters, rants and analyses on renewable energy law and policy.  We’ve linked to a few of our favorites under “Renewables News” to the right. 

The weather is shockingly spring-like in Northern New England today, and we’re more in the mood to barbeque than to blog.  But we can’t decamp to our actual backyards without an Earth Day shout out to our friends at Ocean Renewable Power Company in our virtual backyard (Portland and Eastport, Maine).  ORPC has developed new technology to capture tidal energy, as described in this article.  (For an interactive demo of the turbine technology, click here.)  Among the project benefits touted by ORPC:  unobstructed views. 

Later this month, another, more visible ocean energy project should be getting the final word from the feds, and the fate of Cape Wind may foretell the viability of federal legislation in support of wind.  The open question: will nimbyism suck all the air out of the wind industry?  (Check the Wikipedia entry for NIMBY and you’ll find opposition to Cape Wind listed as a prime example.)

We wish there were a clever acronym for those folks whose backyards inspire them to support renewable energy.  We could nominate NH’s Bode Miller and VT’s Hannah Kearney, Olympic Gold Medalists, as examples on that Wikipedia page:  both have signed an open letter (pdf) in support of comprehensive climate legislation, citing the environmental and economic needs of the mountains and ski towns they love so dearly.

Whether your backyard is mountain, ocean or sunny windowsill, we wish it a little bit of green this Earth Day.

Bill Implementing Maine Ocean Energy Task Force Recommendations Released

The Governor's Bill implementing the recommendations of Maine's Ocean Energy Task Force has been printed as LD 1810. Senators Hobbins and Raye and Representatives Fitts and Berry are the bill sponsors.  

The 41 page bill, drafted as emergency legislation, contains a broad range of provisions that are designed to overcome the economic, technical and regulatory obstacles to to provide economic incentives for vigorous and efficient development of marine renewable energy sources.  The provisions include authorization for the PUC to conduct a competitive solicitation for proposals for offshore wind, tidal and wave energy produced in state or federal waters and to negotiate a long-term contract with a technically competent generator if the contract terms would not have an unreasonable rate impact.  A hearing on the bill are scheduled for March 11 at 1 pm at the Utilities and Energy Committee.

Previous posts on the Ocean Energy Task Force:

Maine Ocean Energy Task Force Submits Final Report

The Straw Proposal: Offshore Wind and Tidal Power Seek Surer Footing on Maine’s Submerged Lands

FERC and Maine Sign MOU on Ocean Tidal Power

Safe Passage for Ocean Energy

Maine Ocean Energy Task Force Submits Final Report

The Maine Ocean Energy Task Force  submitted its final report (pdf) with detailed appendices (pdf), to Governor Baldacci on December 31, 2009.  (We discussed earlier drafts of this proposal in this previous post.)

OETF Co-Chairperson Beth Nagusky, Director of Innovation and Assistance at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, has indicated that The Governor's Office will submit draft legislation to implement the OETF recommendations early in the legislative session.
Key findings of the Report include recommendations that Maine:

• Make a major commitment to development of offshore wind, tidal, and wave power;
• Commit to a goal of installation of 5 gigawatts (5,000 megawatts) of offshore wind energy generating capacity in Maine’s coastal waters and adjoining federal waters by 2030, and to a goal of timely and efficient development of tidal energy resources at optimal locations in Maine’s coastal waters, including but not limited to those in the Passamaquoddy Bay region;
• Improve the siting, permitting and governance framework for renewable ocean energy development;
• Move aggressively to support strengthening Maine's current out-dated transmission and distribution infrastructure, incorporating smart-grid technologies, and explicitly recognize in law the need for new transmission and distribution capacity to achieve the State’s wind power and energy conversion goals; and
• Support the financing and development of renewable energy goals by requiring the Maine Public Utilities to issue a Request for Proposal for renewable ocean energy generation where the rate impact is reasonable.

For more information about the Ocean Energy Task Force and offshore development opportunities in Maine, contact Pierce Atwood's Lib Butler.  

Offshore (Data) Mining

Together with Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe has introduced the Renewable Energy Environmental Research Act of 2009 (pdf).  The proposed legislation aims to coordinate the collection and dissemination of environmental data so crucial to the development of marine energy resources.  Under the proposed bill, $100M would be appropriated to NOAA each year 2010 through 2014, with the requirement that up to 50% of the funds would be made available to educational institutions and to states with federally-approved coastal zone management programs (pdf). 

As shown on this interactive map, every New England state (other than Vermont,  which lacks a seacoast) is already working with NOAA on coastal and ocean management issues.  Of course, as Senator Snowe’s press release suggests, the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, which has partnered with Norway’s StatoilHydro to investigate the potential of off-shore wind, would be a natural recipient for this kind of funding.  (For more on this program, see our previous post.)  But with multiple off-shore energy projects in various stages of development in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the impact of this bill would be felt throughout the region.

The environmental data covered by the proposed legislation is of great interest to environmental advocates, who want to make sure off-shore development won’t cause unreasonable harm to the habitats where they’re built.  The data is also of critical importance to developers – and their potential investors - who have been calling (pdf) for the refinement, integration and standardization of this kind of environmental data in order to minimize the risks associated with both permitting these projects and their eventual productivity. 

DOE Grant to Maine Consortium to Study Offshore Wind

DOE today announced an investment of up to $8M in the University of Maine’s Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site and related educational initiatives.  The award was one of three competitive grants made to university-led consortia that will support university research and development programs to improve wind turbine performance and reliability and undergraduate and graduate educational opportunities in cutting-edge wind technologies.  The University of Maine is the only grant recipient that will research and develop deepwater wind technologies.

The University of Maine consortium includes Norway’s StatoilHydro, which recently hosted Maine’s Governor Baldacci and a Maine trade mission (including Pierce Atwood’s John Gulliver) to Europe to discuss renewable energy opportunities.  (For more on the trade mission, see our previous post.)  Trade mission members were invited to visit StatoilHydro's 2.3-megawatt Hywind turbine, the only offshore, deep-water, power-generating wind turbine in the world.  A more detailed account of the trade mission is here.  After seeing the Hywind turbine, Governor Baldacci and University of Maine’s Prof. Habib Dagher signed a letter of intent with StatoilHydro to explore whether this deepwater wind technology could be put to work in Maine.  The DOE grant marks a great step forward for this public-private partnership. 

The Straw Proposal: Offshore Wind and Tidal Power Seek Surer Footing on Maine’s Submerged Lands

Maine’s Ocean Energy Task Force (OETF) Regulatory and Permitting Subcommittee met this Tuesday, September 8th, to discuss a Straw Proposal for a set of recommendations to the full OETF.  The Subcommittee chair, State Planning Office (SPO) Director of Coastal Zone Management Planning, Kathleen Leyden, and SPO staffer Todd Burroughs reviewed the proposal with Regulatory Subcommittee members, accepting comments from members of the public. The Subcommittee meeting minutes will be posted at its page on the OETF website.

The Straw Proposal would establish that development of renewable ocean energy resources, including tidal and wind power, is an authorized use of state submerged lands.  But some commenters noted that the proposed language requiring "due consideration" and even compensation to be provided by renewable developments for other existing commercial uses, such as fishing, gives commercial fishing a superior right to use of submerged lands, rather than putting renewable resource uses on equal footing with fishing interests.  It was noted that the Subcommittee Recommendation to the OETF should include the option that renewable energy projects be recognized as an appropriate use of submerged lands, equal (or even higher) in priority to other uses, given the urgency of the need for renewable energy.

Tidal developers also pointed out that the straw proposal is focused exclusively on wind, and has not taken into account the unique aspects of tidal power projects.  DEP and SPO staff indicated that they believe that the Maine Waterways Act is sufficient to regulate tidal power, and that only the submerged lands, tax, and federal state coordination provisions of this proposal would apply to tidal power.  Members of the public were encouraged to provide more detailed commentary on this point, especially the unique aspects of the FERC Pilot Project process used for tidal projects.

The Subcommittee has been asked to complete its recommendation on legislation to the OETF by September 15, 2009.

For more information regarding the Straw Proposal or OETF, please contact Lib Butler, Sarah Verville or Chip Ahrens. 

FERC and Maine Sign MOU on Ocean Tidal Power

Recognizing Maine’s “vast, untapped renewable ocean energy resources, including tidal power resources” and the state’s potential to become “an international proving ground for testing promising new technologies in state waters”, FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU (pdf)) with the State of Maine, providing that the federal and state regulators will coordinate – and streamline – the permitting process for tidal energy projects.

The MOU is the first of its kind on the East Coast (Washington signed a similar MOU (pdf) in June, 2009; Oregon signed one (pdf) in March, 2008); and was recommended (pdf) by the tidal power subcommittee of Maine’s Ocean Energy Task Force (OETF) earlier this year, which noted that a lack of coordination between the state and FERC permitting processes can limit the ability to move projects forward.

The MOU agreement will reinforce the close working relationship between federal and state regulators needed to ensure timely consideration of pilot project license and commercial project license applications.  Under the agreement, for instance, FERC and Maine agree that:

• Each will notify the other when they become aware of a potential applicant seeking a preliminary permit, project pilot license, or other license to develop a hydrokinetic tidal energy project;
• Maine will take action on a demonstration hydrokinetic tidal energy project’s application for a state permit and water quality certification within 60 days of the state’s acceptance of the application; and
• Both will designate management contacts to work through any procedural issues that arise in the review of a particular proposed tidal energy project.

In addition to these provisions designed to streamline the permit review process, the MOU also seeks to coordinate the substantive review of pilot projects and support the development of tidal energy by sharing critical data gathered from these innovative projects.  Maine commits to support FERC’s establishment of a permit process to allow short-term hydrokinetic tidal energy projects and FERC agrees to review permits with a view to ensure projects are compatible with Maine comprehensive plans and offshore wind energy test areas, as defined by new Maine law (pdf), which creates a streamlined DEP permit process for tidal energy demonstration projects.  Recognizing that gathering information regarding the economic and technical feasibility of new ocean technologies can be a stumbling block for their development, Maine and FERC also agree that any required pre- and post-licensing studies for pilot projects should be reasonable in scope and that any data gathered on pilot projects should be shared.

The MOU will promote the close working relationship between federal and state regulators needed to ensure timely consideration of pilot project license and commercial project license applications.  This is good news for the tidal power development community, and addresses concerns like those raised by the OETF, that an uncoordinated approach to permitting can lead to the failure of projects - like Finavera Renewables' (pdf) proposed tidal project in Makah Bay, WA - to make it past the planning stage.  The new framework will provide an efficient and predictable permitting process that will better enable the United States – and specifically the State of Maine – to compete effectively in the global race to develop tidal power technology and power projects.

Safe Passage for Ocean Energy

Yesterday, the Maine Senate voted unanimously in support of LD 1465– An Act to Facilitate Testing and Demonstration of Renewable Ocean Energy Technology (pdf).  As described in an earlier article by Pierce Atwood, this legislation is the result of the work of Maine’s Ocean Energy Task Force (OETF ), which Governor Baldacci established in November 2008 for the purpose of developing a strategy to meet or exceed Maine’s goal to install at least 300 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020. 

The work of the OETF is not yet done, however.  The next challenge is to select the sites appropriate for development.  The OETF has already started this process by reviewing a variety of data and hearing presentations on the siting plans of Massachusetts(pdf) and Rhode Island(pdf).  But the process may prove time-consuming.  A year ago, Massachusetts was the first state to embark on the effort to create a comprehensive planning document that maps out the potential locations for offshore wind and other projects.  A draft of the Massachusetts plan is expected to be release on July 1, 2009; it isn’t expected to be final until January 1, 2010. 

For more information regarding LD 1465 or the Ocean Energy Task Force, contact Sarah Verville (207-791-1371 or sverville@pierceatwood.com) or Elizabeth Butler (207-791-1226 or ebutler@pierceatwood.com).

Outer Continental Truce

As discussed in a previous post, FERC and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) have been working to resolve the long-standing conflict over jurisdiction over the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).   Today, the Secretary of the Interior Salazar and FERC Chairman Wellinghoff announced the final agreement (pdf) between the two agencies. 

Under the agreement, MMS retains exclusive jurisdiction over non-hydrokinetic projects (like wind and solar installations) in the OCS, while FERC has jurisdiction over hydrokinetic generation.  MMS does retain exclusive jurisdiction to issue leases, easements and rights-of-way on the OCS, however:  FERC will no longer issue "preliminary permits" and will not license OCS hydrokinetic projects until the applicant has obtained a lease, easement or ROW from MMS.

A full copy of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies can be found here (pdf). 

When Does A Permit Mean Squat?

Lately, the announced resolution of the overlapping claims by FERC and the MMS to jurisdiction over the permitting of offshore wind projects has been much in the news.  The dispute breaks down like this: EPAct 2005 gave the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) the status of lead federal regulator over offshore renewable energy projects, but under the Federal Power Act, FERC is responsible for licensing most hydro projects.  Without clarity, many were concerned that development of offshore renewable energy resources would be brought to a standstill.

Everyone’s pleased that this dispute appears to be resolved, but that doesn't mean ocean renewables are out of the woods yet.  Earlier this month a group of lawmakers, including Senator Collins of Maine and Senators Whitehouse and Reed of Rhode Island, wrote (pdf) to their former colleague – now Secretary of the Interior – Ken Salazar, on a related problem: the risk of developers taking advantage of the regulatory uncertainty to stake claim to large swaths of ocean under competing regulatory schemes. Comparing this problem to the cybersquatting of the “early days of the internet”, the lawmakers implored Secretary Salazar to develop a workable plan for offshore developers as fast as possible.  For those who take a somewhat longer view, try this analogy:  the Outer Continental Shelf is the new Wild West!

But at least one alleged squatter, Grays Harbor, strikes a more pragmatic note than might be expected of an outlaw slinging six-shooters or ill-gotten domain names.  As Grays Harbor describes its decision to seek permits from FERC: when one regulator (MMS) doesn't have a permitting process, you seek a permit from the regulator (FERC) who does.

Whatever the intent of Grays Harbor in obtaining permits from FERC, at least there’s transparency: all Preliminary Hydrokinetic Permits issued by FERC are available on its website. 

No doubt cybersquatting is a powerful cultural reference, but perhaps a better analog here would be the debate over the official Maine State Tartan.  As with permits for offshore hydro projects, for Tartans claiming to represent the State of Maine there are multiple places to register: the International Tartan Index of the Scottish Tartan Authority, the Scottish Tartans World Register of the Scottish Tartans Society, and the United States Copyright Office.

Hopefully these conflicts between the offshore permitting processes will soon be resolved.  For its part, MMS has announced four stakeholder meetings (pdf) to develop a “comprehensive plan for conventional and renewable energy resources of the [Outer Continental Shelf]”.  If we learn of any opportunity to submit public comment on the selection of an official Maine State Tartan, we’ll be sure to post that information here.