Statement of Wayne F. Krouse

As the President, C.E.O. and Founder of a U.S. company with hydrokinetic power projects currently in development, I appreciate the opportunity to provide my thoughts in writing to the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures regarding the need to include hydrokinetic power technologies (river, ocean and tidal) as qualifying resources in the Section 45 Production Tax Credit (PTC).  I also would like to express my support for H.R. 2036, Congressman Jay Inslee’s Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Promotion Act of 2007, as well as Senator Gordon Smith’s S. 411 and S. 425.

Hydro Green Energy, LLC (HGE) is a Houston, TX-based renewable energy project developer and equipment manufacturer that designs, builds and operates hydrokinetic power systems that generate electricity exclusively from moving water without having to first construct dams, impoundments or conduits.  Our systems operate in rivers, tidal areas and oceans.  HGE has a U.S. Patent and several U.S. and international patents are pending. 

Hydro Green Energy is presently in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) licensing and permitting process for its first project Minnesota, with the goal of becoming the first commercially-operational, licensed hydrokinetic power project in the United States.  Hydro Green Energy is also in various stages of development in Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Texas and Washington.

Hydrokinetic power holds great promise as a new, carbon-free, low or no impact, domestic energy source.  In fact, a recent study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) found that the U.S. could develop at a minimum 13,000 megawatts of river and ocean-based hydrokinetic power by 2025.  Earlier estimates by the Department of Energy (DOE) showed even greater potential and suggested that the U.S. might be able to double its existing hydropower output with the development of new technologies.

Like all emerging energy technologies, hydrokinetic power sources face high capital costs.  In addition, these technologies face costly and time-consuming regulatory hurdles not faced by any other energy source.  The development costs for hydrokinetic technologies are very similar, if not higher, to the development costs of the resources presently included in the Section 45 production tax credit.  In short, hydrokinetic power deserves inclusion in all policies designed to encourage the development of new renewable energy sources, such as the Section 45 PTC.

As the Committee moves forward with the implementation of policies to better develop our abundant supply of renewable energy, I hope that the Committee will act to include hydrokinetic power in the Section 45 PTC.  By doing so, we will ensure that these promising technologies are given an opportunity to develop, which will give the U.S. an abundant new source of clean energy, as well as an exportable technology for a potentially vast worldwide market that is already developing.