Newport has been selected as the site for what its backers call a utility-scale wave energy test site.

The city on Oregon's central coast beat out Reedsport to the south for what's called the Pacific Marine Energy Center.

A statement from Oregon State University says a site yet to be selected about five miles from shore will test devices for generating potential and environmental impacts. Completion is expected to take several years.

Plans call for four "test berths," open spaces of water dedicated to testing individual devices or small arrays of devices.

Cables are to transmit power to the electric grid and data to scientists and engineers onshore.

The center is a project of a partnership, funded substantially by federal dollars, between Oregon State and the University of Washington.