VANCOUVER, British Columbia – A Canadian company and a California utility have announced plans to study the possibility of laying an undersea cable between Oregon and the San Francisco Bay, providing California with direct access to hydroelectric power from the Pacific Northwest.

The signing of a memorandum of understanding between the joint venture company Sea Breeze Pacific West Coast Cable LP and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. “to evaluate the possible development, design, construction, operation and ownership of the project” was announced Tuesday by Sea Breeze Power Corp. of Vancouver.

Electricity generated at dams in the Pacific Northwest is now sent to California over Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines.

“Creating a new, highly efficient transmission corridor along the West Coast will greatly facilitate rapid growth of clean energy generation in a region which has abundant renewable resources but which are presently ‘stranded’ for lack of transmission,” said John Tompkins, chief operating officer of Sea Breeze Pacific.

The 1,600-megawatt cable would run between a substation near Portland, Ore., and the San Francisco Bay area. An application for construction of the project was announced last in December.

PG&E has about 15 million natural gas and electric customers in northern and central California.

Sea Breeze Pacific is a joint venture between Sea Breeze Power, a developer of renewable energy in British Columbia, and Boundless Energy NW Inc. of York, Maine.