San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, less than two weeks before becoming lieutenant governor, is pushing ahead with his vision of using the Pacific Ocean's surging waves to help power the city and, ultimately, the state.

Armed with a study showing waves about eight miles off the coast of San Francisco could produce enough energy to power at least 22,700 homes at a cost comparable to solar power, and bolstered by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's recent announcement that federal regulators would streamline the permitting process for Atlantic Coast wind farms, Newsom is pushing to have a pilot wave-power program running by 2012 or early 2013.

"We will get the ocean power project done," Newsom said during a recent interview overlooking the Pacific Ocean. "You guys have had fun at my expense - which I get. That's why I'll have the final word as the lieutenant governor on that."

Newsom was criticized as naive and stubborn for insisting in 2008 that the city should submerge giant turbines in bay waters near the Golden Gate Bridge to generate power despite a study saying it was financially infeasible.

"I'm committed to it and am going to fight for it," Newsom said then. "I don't care about the arguments against it. I care about the arguments for it."

He has since changed his approach, but not the goal.

A cheaper alternative

Newsom has shifted from tidal to wave power, which uses devices on the ocean floor, like panels attached to a piston or clustered bulbs that mimic the swaying of kelp, to tap power from the constant to and fro of the ocean waves.

San Francisco-based URS Corp., the company whose draft report in 2007 found that a tidal power project in the bay would be costly to build and generate electricity that was more than six times as expensive as Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s commercial rate for power, completed a separate report in 2009 that found that "wave power appears to be much more feasible."

The wave study results suggest that more than 100 gigawatt-hours of power could be produced annually at a cost ranging from 17 to 22 cents per kilowatt hour. That's cheaper than the 23.5 cents per kilowatt hour - a cost that will increase 3 percent a year - that the city is paying for power from the solar project built on top of the Sunset Reservoir. PG&E's average commercial rate for power is currently about 18 cents per kilowatt hour, a spokesman said.

The study found that a 30-megawatt wave farm could be developed in the area - six times the capacity of the Sunset Reservoir solar project.

The wave proposal has "reached every threshold," the mayor said.

"It's been good news, good news, good news," Newsom said. "The tidal was bad news. ... The more we learned, the worse it was."

Still, major hurdles remain.

The report estimates the cost of building a 30-megawatt wave farm at $120 million to $140 million, and San Francisco is facing a $380 million budget deficit next year.

"When you have a good idea, the money flows," Newsom counters. "We'll work that out. Honestly, I think there will be plenty of suitors, particularly for something of this size and scope as one of the first on the west coast of the U.S."

Newsom, though, is leaving to become lieutenant governor, and while that gives him a seat on the State Lands Commission and Ocean Protection Council to further his efforts at the state level, there's no guarantee his successor will make this a priority. There's also the question of federal approval and possible lease requirements, depending on the location of the proposed project. Within 3 miles of the coastline, the city will have to secure a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Beyond that, San Francisco will also have to win a lease from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, formerly the Minerals Management Service.

Possible prototypes

While at least 20 different prototypes for generating wave power have been tested in Europe, the United States and Australia, none has been on the outer continental shelf in this country and gone through the federal permit and lease process.

"This would be a first time through for all of us," said Ellen Aronson, Pacific regional director for the ocean energy bureau. "We really need to sit down and talk to all the parties about the proposal. Without having done that, it really is hard to sit down and say by the end of 2012 is a certainty or even a possibility" for a San Francisco pilot project.

The study captured data from about 8 miles offshore in water 110 feet deep. The question of whether to pursue a project within the 3-mile zone is still being considered, Newsom said.

Factors include proximity to migratory routes for sea life and accounting for the nearby Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, where energy production is restricted. The city is conducting studies on the potential impact on leatherback turtles and gray whales and has completed one on ocean sediment.

The city is working with URS to design the technical layout for the pilot project and will apply for a federal permit in the new year, officials said.

"You can knock me one more time," Newsom said, "but then in a year and a half I'll be out there saying, 'Hey, we got this done.' "