The Western Governors’ Association is urging bipartisan congressional passage of a geothermal act that would streamline the often laborious and uncertain permitting process to open up the carbon free energy potential in the West.
Utah is the among the top three U.S. generators of utility scale geothermal energy, following California and Nevada in developing what is called “the heat beneath your feet,” to tap reservoirs of the Earth’s red-hot core. That geothermal heat generates steam to turn turbines to produce electricity.
The U.S. Department of Energy says geothermal power plants produce electricity consistently and can run essentially 24 hours per day, seven days per week, regardless of weather conditions. They can also ramp generation up or down to respond to changes in electricity demand.
“Western states already lead the nation in energy production from a wide range of sources, and, given that the vast majority of high-yield geothermal energy capacity in the United States is in the West, are poised to lead in geothermal energy development as well,” read the letter signed by the chair of the Western Governors’ Association, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-New Mexico, and its vice chair, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, R-Utah. “By addressing some of the obstacles to its development, this bill would help unlock the potential of geothermal energy.”