Marine power developers in the U.S. are brandishing their scissors on word that the body in charge of their industry's regulation is considering cutting its red tape.

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is considering changing its process to complete licensing of ocean and tidal power pilot projects much faster than the five plus years it can take today.

The commission is convening a conference in October in Portland, Oregon to discuss a staff proposal to license pilot projects for ocean energy in as few as six months.

FERC governs anything having to do with generating power from water in or off the shore of America, a legacy dating back to when it only regulated hydroelectric dams.

"This is a great step. I hope it really does come to pass," Roger Bedard, said head of marine power research at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the R&D arm of the electrical power industry.

"A number of people such as myself have been telling FERC that we need something like this to enable hardware in the water sooner rather than later so that we can reduce the uncertainties about things such as the environmental effects," Bedard told Cleantech.com.

Advocates believe power generated from ocean waves and tides could be an emissions-free, low impact way to power a significant portion of the world's energy needs.

EPRI has estimated marine power could someday meet some 10% of total U.S. demand in the future, given the relative limited proximity of electrical demand to the coasts.

"From our perspective, the best way to get to commercialization is to get turbine systems in the water to test and develop through trial and error," said Trey Taylor, president of New York-based Verdant Power.

"We are very thankful to FERC for moving in this direction and look forward to providing more detailed input as part of the announced technical conference in October," Taylor told Cleantech.com.

Verdant has a trial underway in the East River bordering Manhattan (see Verdant deploys tidal power array in New York) and is eyeing other projects.

"FERC is providing a significant boost for the industry," said Finavera Renewables CEO Jason Bak, calling the move a "tremendous commitment" to marine power.

Finavera (CVE: FVR) and Ocean Power Technologies (NASDAQ: OPTT) are two of the few publicly-traded ocean power companies with projects underway in the U.S. Their share prices were relatively flat at press time.

"This new generation of hydrokinetic technologies will bring hydropower to the forefront of the renewable energy debate," said FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller, who will lead the October conference.

He acknowleded the lobbying of 14 companies, individuals and groups like the Ocean Energy Renewable Energy Coalition (OREC), the National Hydropower Association (NHA), not to mention voters.

"It is generating a lot of enthusiasm throughout the country, particularly in coastal states like my home state of Washington."

The faster FERC process would be available for projects that are:

• 5 megawatts or smaller
• Removable or able to shut down on relatively short notice
• Located in waters that have no sensitive designations
• Specifically for the purpose of testing new hydro technologies or determining appropriate sites for ocean, wave and tidal energy projects

While faster pilot approvals were welcome, the real overhaul, however, said EPRI's Bedard, should be in the approval of full commercial production facilities.

"This is for pilot testing only. Pilot testing is a first step before commercialization. This in itself has nothing to do with commercial scale plants, other than allowing this first step of pilot testing to go forth sooner rather than later," he said.