Jun 21 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Katherine Cassidy Bangor Daily News, Maine

The environmental engineer who floated a proposal in April to build a tidal power plant and liquefied natural gas terminal on Navy property on Little Machias Bay has received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to proceed with a feasibility study for the tidal power portion of the project.

Normand Laberge of Trescott, who works as an environmental compliance officer on the U.S. Navy antenna site in Cutler, has proposed a $40 million to $50 million dam for the 2,500-acre peninsula owned by the Navy.

FERC's Division of Hydropower is calling Laberge's project the Cutler Tidal Power Project No. 12674.

Laberge was instructed to send copies of his application for the preliminary permit to FERC's New York regional office, the Department of the Interior's Office of Environmental Affairs, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Because tidal power is intermittent, Laberge envisions building an LNG facility that supplements the tidal power from the dam. An existing diesel power plant that currently fuels the Navy's 45 antenna towers could be adapted to use LNG and operate "whenever tidal power is unavailable."

The tidal power project would be just east of the Navy towers, and the LNG terminal would be on the western side of the peninsula, facing larger Machias Bay.

FERC's letter to Tidewalker Associates, Laberge's company, now gives Laberge a three-year window to provide economic analysis, preliminary engineering plans and a study of environmental impacts for the tidal power project.

As for the LNG portion of his proposal, Laberge said he expects no movement on that front until decisions are made in the next year about the two LNG projects that are seeking FERC approval to build on Passamaquoddy Bay.

Laberge's LNG plans are the fourth LNG development proposed for Washington County. Quoddy Bay LNG of Oklahoma is two years into its project, proposed for the Passamaquoddy Tribe's Pleasant Point reservation, and Downeast LNG of Washington, D.C., announced its intentions one year ago to build an LNG terminal in Robbinston. Calais LNG, eyeing the St. Croix River in Calais, is a local initiative that has not yet filed any plans with FERC.

"It depends on what the outcome is for the other two LNG projects," Laberge said. "If the Canadian opposition is such that the projects cannot be built, my [LNG] proposal is a fallback position.

"It could or it couldn't happen. Even though there seems to be a lot of political support for the LNG projects, I think that something might happen to derail those projects."

Laberge's tidal project would consist of a dam 4,200 feet long and 23 feet high. Its powerhouse would contain three generating units with a total installed capacity of 1,200 kilowatts.

The dam, in combination with emptying and filling gates, would be used to establish a hydroelectric head in a manner similar to most conventional hydroelectric dams, the project proposal reads. The main difference is that a permanent reservoir would not be created since the dam will hold back tidal water until the creation of optimal conditions for generating power on each tide.

The U.S. Navy would be the primary user of the power generated. Excess power would be integrated within the Bangor Hydro-Electric Co.'s grid.

Carrying out the studies could cost Laberge about $500,000.

Laberge has not spoken to Navy officials about the proposal. Should the project gain speed and move forward, he acknowledges he would likely leave his Navy position "in about a year" to minimize conflict of interest.

Six years ago the Navy removed its military personnel from the base and transferred control of the military communications facility to a Navy base in Norfolk, Va., which now operates the equipment remotely. About 80 federal civilian employees continue to maintain the antenna towers on the property, which is off-limits to the public.

The portions of the former military base that are open to the public are being redeveloped as condominiums and commercial space by a private firm.