Irving Oil Ltd.'s sudden decision to abandon its New Brunswick tidal power initiative has sparked interest by a Maine company that is conducting its own research in the area.

Irving Oil had exclusive access from the New Brunswick government to test tidal power possibilities on 11 Crown land sites in the Bay of Fundy, which it walked away from recently. Provincial Energy Minister Jack Keir said last week he didn't know why the company halted its efforts, but said tidal power technology is not yet commercially viable.

Those views stand in contrast to the experience of John Ferland, the vice-president of project development for Ocean Renewable Power Company in Maine, who has been testing the potential of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy since 2007.

Ferland said the company plans to have a commercial pilot underway by next fall near Eastport, Maine.

"It would probably be the first grid-connected tidal energy project in the United States," Ferland said.

The initial five-megawatt pilot is expected to generate enough electricity to power every home and business in the Eastport area.

Then, the company hopes to expand the project to supply energy to all of Downeast Maine.

If all goes well, Ferland said, tidal energy could become commercially viable by 2015.

The Maine company was testing tidal power possibilities not far from Irving Oil in the Bay of Fundy.

Ferland said he was surprised to hear that Irving Oil had backed away from the project.

"We've always viewed New Brunswick as having tidal energy development opportunity and we continue to do so," he said.

"With Irving having made this decision, it kind of changes the playing field a little bit, so we would now seek to gather information about what that means."

The New Brunswick government plans to issue another request for proposals for the 11 Crown land sites available for testing in the bay.