Pacific Gas and Electric utility company is set to buy commercial wave energy from Finavera Renewables Inc., which is building the Humboldt County Offshore Wave Energy Power Plant some 2.5 miles off the California coast. The project is scheduled to begin delivering wave energy in 2012 following a multi-year permitting process. 

The move is part of the utility's efforts to boost its renewable energy sources to comprise 20 percent of its portfolio by 2012, as mandated by California state law.  It's nice to see laws that actual yield the desired results.

Unfortunately, a recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency has left states with less power to determine their environmental priorities.  California led a coalition of states and non-profits that sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday over the agency's refusal to let the states set tougher auto-related greenhouse gas emissions regulations.  The EPA reasoned that the new Energy Bill, which calls for a fleet-based average of 35 miles per gallon on new vehicles by 2020, is tougher than the regulations California and other states are pursuing.  The reality is that The California proposal passed in 2002 that was rejected by the EPA would have upped fuel economy to 36.8 miles per gallon by 2016, beginning with the 2009 model year.

"It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and 19 other states from adopting these standards," said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.  So much for states rights, a key topic in the Republican race for the nomination that few Republicans seem to uphold these days. 

Watch a video on Wave Energy here.