Four Western U.S. States Join to Boost Geothermal Energy

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Written by Paul Wiseman for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

As the search for clean, reliable energy sources heats up in the U.S., four western governors--three Democrats and one Republican--on May 20 announced the formation of a consortium to further the research, development and funding of geothermal energy.

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A Bipartisan Boost

Most active U.S. geothermal projects are in the Mountain West. The region boasts numerous areas in which subsurface heat is nearest the surface and, therefore, most economical to explore. Last week, the governors of four states in that region announced the formation of the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium to support the funding, permitting and development of such projects.

The governors are Arizona's Katie Hobbs (D), Colorado's Jared Polis (D), New Mexico's Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) and Utah's Spencer Cox (R). To learn more about the top geothermal developers and their ongoing operations, see Industrial Info Resources' May 15, 2026, article - U.S. Geothermal Power Generation Shows Signs of Relevance.

The consortium is overseen by the Center for Public Enterprise, a New-York-based nonprofit that "works with local and state government agencies, advocacy organizations, researchers and academics" to develop effective public programs in three categories: energy, housing and finance, according to its website.

Also involved is Constructive, another nonprofit that focuses on public/private collaboration.

Confronting the Challenges

Geothermal, as with most newer technologies, suffers from a chicken-egg conundrum: research and development require extensive up-front funding, but investors are reluctant to put up money until there is enough research to prove they can be economically viable enough to provide a return on investment.

Industrial Info Resources is tracking six geothermal projects across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, in its Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant Database. Readers can learn more from a detailed list of project reports.

The four states in the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium plan to coordinate their permitting processes to remove obstacles, such as sharing data to locate and build new geothermal plants. The consortium aims to enable public and private investment, as well as improve regional grid connections to deliver new geothermal power to end users.

One source of inspiration for this coalition is the Utah FORGE (Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy) project in Beaver County, Utah, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The goal for Utah FORGE is to help develop enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) that use oil industry systems for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to create artificial underground reservoirs.

EGS uses "controlled conditions to create new fractures and cause pre-existing fractures to re-open, creating permeability," according to the DOE website. "Increased permeability allows fluid to circulate throughout the more fractured hot rock, and the fluid becomes hot as it circulates. Operators pump the hot water up to the surface, where it generates electricity for the grid."

This technology makes geothermal energy available in areas where it previously would not have been economically viable. It also improves economics in areas that have strong geothermal options, like the Mountain West.

Early Results of a Similar Project

Fervo has used Utah FORGE research in building the 500-megawatt (MW), multi-phase Cape Station Geothermal Energy Project in Beaver County, near the Utah FORGE site. According to Industrial Info Resources data, the project includes a power plant comprising modular plants that are to be developed in two phases.

Industrial Info Resources offers more information on this EGS project in its GMI Power Plant and Project databases, where readers can find details--including construction schedules, investment values and necessary equipment--in a plant profile and detailed project reports on Phase I and Phase II.

California Also Needs This Kind of Help

In a report released in mid-May, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), a non-profit advocacy group, estimated that deployment of advanced geothermal systems could save California $44 billion annually in utility costs. The CATF also found that statewide deployment could reduce the state's need to add transmission lines by up to 53%.

Advanced geothermal is an umbrella term for systems, including EGS, that can make geothermal viable in many locations. This would make it ideal for a large state like California to reduce the building of transmission lines, which involve significant costs, permitting and other issues.

The CATF report cites Utah FORGE as an example of how California could use public money to "acquire and distribute subsurface knowledge."

California already leads the U.S. in conventional geothermal deployment, according to a February report from the National Laboratory of the Rockies.

Key Takeaways

• Geothermal in many ways is the ideal green energy: it's always on, takes little space, sends out no toxic waste, does not compete for agriculture space, and with new technology it can be available anywhere.
• Its main drawback is funding the research and development it needs to become economically viable. This consortium aims to help organize funding, research, and offtake agreements to help make geothermal more viable to meet increasing power demands across the U.S.

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About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news, and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing, and energy-related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified, and verified plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).