Green Wombat

photo: Doogie Boogie
California utility PG&E, the city of San Francisco and a green energy company will collaborate on a study to determine the potential for tapping tidal power in San Francisco Bay by placing turbines on the sea floor below the Golden Gate Bridge.  Earlier studies estimated that tidal power could provide greenhouse gas-free electricity to as many as 40,000 homes in San Francisco. PG&E (PCG) will kick in $1.5 million for the study by outside experts, which will be completed in about a year. Depending on the outcome of the research, it could be three to five years before a tidal project goes online. Golden Gate Energy of Washington, D.C., currently holds the federal permits  to conduct tidal power studies in San Francisco Bay and has committed $346,000 to the effort, according to PG&E. The joint study – the latest of several – will be only the first step in a complicated regulatory dance, complicated by a likely tussle over who ultimately wins the right to develop tidal power. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently voted to determine the feasibility of pulling the plug on PG&E and securing its own electricity supplies from renewable sources. A 400-megawatt tidal power plant would obviously help the city achieve that goal.