The Redwood Coast Energy Authority announced it will host a public forum on Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s proposed project to convert wave energy off the North Coast into electricity.

The public forum on PG&E’s proposed WaveConnect Project is scheduled for Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Wharfinger Building in Eureka.

To help kick off a local dialogue on this project, RCEA stated it is inviting key stakeholders from public agencies, community groups and environmental organizations to participate in the public forum.

“There is abundant energy in the waves along the Humboldt coast, and the prospect of harnessing it as a source of clean, sustainable, renewable energy is very exciting,” stated David Boyd, RCEA’s executive director.

The phased development to use wave-energy conversion devices to transform the energy of ocean waves into electricity can move forward if technical results support feasibility, environmental studies show that significant impacts can be fully mitigated, and stakeholder considerations can be satisfactorily addressed.

The first phase of PG&E’s project will include resource, environmental and ocean use studies.

PG&E was granted preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in March to conduct studies on the feasibility of wave-energy development on the North Coast.

PG&E is now required by FERC to give a basic schedule of the proposed study activities for the project.