REEDSPORT, Ore. (AP) — A company planning to channel thepower of the ocean off the Oregon
coast into the electrical grid inlandsays it faces a new regulatory hurdle and needs more money for what
hasbeen billed as the nation’s first commercial wave energy operation.OceanPower Technologies told
investors this month that it’s doing reportsand studies for the government and is unlikely to meet a
2013 goal ofinstalling a test buoy, one not connected to the electrical grid, theRoseburg News-Review
reported (http://bit.ly/XcLgQ0) Wednesday."Thisprocess could require significant delay of the
deployment of the firstPowerBuoy, as well as present additional costs for the company," CEOChuck
Dunleavy said in a conference call with investors.ThePennington, N.J., company plans to install buoys
that use wave motion togenerate electricity, enough to power about 1,000 homes. Cables wouldtake the
power inland to the grid.In August, the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission issued the company a 35-year
license to install upto 10 buoys about 2 1/2 miles off Reedsport on the south Oregon coast.Thecompany
said it learned in February that the agency will require it tocomply with all conditions of its license
for 10 grid-connected buoysbefore putting a test buoy in the water."Since the first buoy wasnot
going to be grid-connected, the company did not believe it wasunder the FERC jurisdiction," Chief
Financial Officer Brian Posner saidin an email to The News-Review.The company in the past has relied
heavily on funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Navy."Weare speaking to several
sources for additional funding at this time,but we would prefer not to discuss them publicly until firm
commitmentsare established," Posner said. He would not say how much the companywould need.Besides
generating electricity for onshore utilitycustomers, the company said its buoys could have other uses,
such assonar and radar surveillance, tsunami warnings, oceanographic datacollection, offshore platforms
and offshore aquaculture.___Information from: The World, http://www.theworldlink.comCopyright 2013 The
Associated Press.