FERC Adopts OREC Recommendation for Short Term, Super-Expedited License

On July 19, 2007, the Commission issued this Press Release announcing that it will convene a technical conference to discuss a proposal for a process for new wave, tidal and hydrokinetic technologies that would allow them to complete licensing in as little as six months. The process would be available for projects 5 megawatts or smaller, removable on short notice and for the purpose of testing new technologies. The expedited licenses would issue for a term of five years.So where did FERC get this idea? OREC proposed the “supra-expedited” five year license for experimental and new commercial technologies back in February 2007 in our FERC Comments filed in response to the Notice of Inquiry on Preliminary Permits (see the comments at 10-13). Though many groups endorsed a speedy licensing process (a no brainer, after all), OREC was the sole entity to flesh out how the supra-expedited license process would work and to emphasize the need to allow projects to sell power during the five year experimental phase. And FERC listened. OREC will continue to represent the needs of the industry before FERC moving forward.

Posted by headsetop on July 22nd, 2007 filed in Uncategorized, FERC Watch