[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF THE MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROMOTION ACT OF 2009

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                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 2009

  Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Marine 
Renewable Energy Promotion Act of 2009, a bill to promote the 
development of renewable energy from our oceans and rivers, using the 
tides, currents, waves and even the thermal properties of our oceans to 
generate electricity. I thank Senator Murkowski for introducing a 
Senate companion to this important measure.
  Marine and hydrokinetic devices offer the potential to capture energy 
from waves, tides, ocean currents, and the natural flow of water in 
rivers, as well as marine thermal gradients, without building new dams 
or diversions. The potential for this energy is tremendous. The 
Electric Power Research Institute has estimated that ocean resources in 
the United States could generate 252 million megawatt hours of 
electricity, which given as much support as other types of renewable 
energy, could be equivalent to 6.5 percent of America's entire 
electricity generation.
  Currently, Washington State companies, universities, research 
institutions and public utilities are working to bring affordable, 
reliable and abundant electricity to major urban load centers located 
near Puget Sound.
  For example, the Department of Energy designated the Northwest 
National Marine Renewable Energy Center, run by the University of 
Washington and Oregon State University, to develop tidal and wave 
research projects. Additionally, the Department of Energy's Marine 
Sciences Laboratory on the Olympic Peninsula assesses waterpower 
resource potential to address and remove environmental roadblocks to 
deployment, testing to accelerate the integration of large-scale 
waterpower electricity generation into the Northwest power grid, and is 
essential to establishing a robust basis for industrial investment 
based on verifiable technology performance, assured cost basis, and 
environmental performance. Furthermore, two entities in Washington 
State are further along in deploying tidal energy turbines than anyone 
else in the United States. Both Verdant Power, in partnership with the 
U.S. Navy, and the Snohomish County Public Utility District, in 
partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, are well underway in 
their research and development of tidal energy in the Puget Sound and 
should be seen as test beds for the nation.
  The Marine Renewable Energy Promotion Act will accelerate these 
efforts by establishing a research, development and demonstration 
program at the Department of Energy that is specifically devoted to 
marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy. This office will help to 
develop new marine renewable energy technologies, increase reliability 
and durability of facilities, reduce manufacturing and operating costs 
of the devices, help identify and address environmental impacts of 
marine renewable energy and make sure that such power can be integrated 
into the national electricity grid.
  Importantly, the bill authorizes federal funding for a Marine-based 
Energy Device Verification Program, which will bridge the gap between 
design and development efforts and the commercial deployment of marine 
renewable energy devices. Funds would facilitate the installation and 
evaluation of marine renewable energy projects in partnership with 
appropriate federal research institutions and organizations. 
Information learned will be available for the benefit of utilities, 
independent power producers, generators, and others in the marine 
renewable energy development community.
  Further, the bill establishes an Adaptive Management and 
Environmental fund to provide grants for entities to help pay for the 
regulatory permitting and development of new marine technologies.
  Finally, the bill would allow marine energy to qualify for the 
existing accelerated depreciation tax benefit, which essentially allows 
marine projects to accelerate the depreciation of their project costs 
over five years and will help enhance project economic returns for 
private developers.
  I urge my colleagues to consider this important bill.

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