As the United States confronts the challenges posed by the rise of hostile foreign powers and a changing climate, we must embrace geothermal energy as an innovative approach to energy production.
Utilizing geothermal energy is key to reducing emissions, growing our economy, undoing our dependence on foreign adversaries, and securing American energy security. That’s why it’s crucial for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to bring to the House floor our bipartisan legislation, which would greatly unlock geothermal exploration and development.
For too long, government red tape has slowed our nation’s ability to urgently move clean energy projects forward. The best approach to energy production would responsibly but quickly draw upon America’s abundant resources to generate the energy we need to power our lives right here at home. Our bill, which has passed the House Natural Resources Committee, promotes domestic energy security by ensuring that geothermal energy can be developed more efficiently in the U.S.
HR 6474 would amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to expedite geothermal exploration and development in previously studied or developed areas, minimizing any on-the-ground impacts — and making sure that the geothermal community can access a flexibility that the oil and gas industry was provided nearly two decades ago. Such an approach would improve on action already taken by the Bureau of Land Management earlier this year, at our request, in adopting existing geothermal permitting efficiencies already implemented by the Forest Service and the Navy. While this action was a step in the right direction, we believe that our legislation is necessary to further level the playing field for geothermal with other energy sources.
We know geothermal energy works. As the top two geothermal states in the nation, California and Nevada are leading the way forward in unlocking geothermal energy’s full potential.
The Geysers, located in Northern California, is the largest geothermal field in the world, producing enough clean, renewable energy to power a city the size of San Francisco. To the south, the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area has the potential to produce seven times its current output with continued innovation and development.
Similarly, Nevada is now home to the country’s first enhanced geothermal plant — “Project Red,” the result of a partnership between Google and Fervo Energy — which is actively producing carbon-free energy to power Google Cloud operations in Las Vegas as well as data centers across the state. The U.S. Department of Energy has found that enhanced geothermal systems such as Project Red could extend geothermal energy production nationwide and affordably power more than 65 million homes and businesses.
Not only is geothermal a growing source of clean energy, but in places such as the Salton Sea, it also has the additional benefit of producing an important strategic by-product: geothermal brine. Geothermal brine contains high levels of lithium, a critical component in electric vehicle manufacturing. Currently, nearly all lithium used in the production of U.S. EVs is imported — much of it from China.
By expanding geothermal sites and creating more geothermal brine, the U.S. can significantly increase the ability to extract, refine, and produce lithium domestically, all while creating new jobs here at home. DOE confirmed last year that the Salton Sea region’s resources alone could produce more than 3,400 kilotons of lithium, enough to support more than 375 million batteries for EVs — more than the total number of vehicles currently on U.S. roads.
Geothermal energy production can occur 24/7, regardless of weather conditions. Furthermore, geothermal power plants typically require far less land than other renewable facilities to produce the same or greater amounts of electricity needed to power our homes, cars, and communities. Geothermal energy also consumes less water and produces much lower emissions than comparable energy sources.
With such obvious benefits to expanding geothermal, what’s preventing us from maximizing its potential? As is the case with so many opportunities for technological, economic, and environmental advancement, bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., is in the way. Excessive regulatory requirements have created an unacceptably slow permitting process for geothermal projects in both of our states — and across the country.
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We are committed to fostering private sector innovation to expand diverse and efficient energy sources that reduce emissions without raising prices. We must ensure that federal policies will facilitate geothermal projects, not impede them. By expediting the review and approval process for geothermal projects in a fair and thoughtful way, we can produce more clean energy, protect our national security, and lower energy costs for families.
We welcome everyone across the political spectrum to join us.
Michelle Steel is a U.S. representative for California and Susie Lee is a U.S. representative for Nevada. They represent the two leading geothermal-producing states in the U.S.
