The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday on a number of bills aimed at accelerating federal permitting for geothermal energy projects, part of a broader push to boost energy production and meet rising demand.
Geothermal energy works by extracting heat from underground reservoirs of hot, typically porous rocks saturated with water. Energy is generated when heat turns water into steam, which travels through pipes and turbines to produce electricity.
The federal permitting process slows the development of geothermal energy, particularly through lengthy environmental reviews and legal challenges. Members of both parties are looking for ways to ease the regulatory process, as geothermal energy could be a source of reliable, clean energy.
One of the bills set for consideration is Rep. Celeste Maloy’s (R-UT) Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act. The bill would speed up the permitting process by setting a 60-day deadline for the Department of the Interior to approve or deny applications after all federal legal and environmental reviews are completed, even if there is a civil lawsuit affecting the application.
Lawmakers will also discuss several other bills to address the permitting process, including Rep. Susie Lee’s (D-NV) Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms Act.
Lee’s bill would extend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include geothermal energy under the existing categorical exclusions of the National Environmental Policy Act. A project under categorical exclusion does not require a complete environmental assessment.
Another bill set for consideration is Rep. Russ Fulcher’s (R-ID) Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act, which would streamline the permitting process for geothermal energy production on federal lands by exempting geothermal exploration projects from review under NEPA. The bill also directs the secretary of the interior to designate geothermal leasing priority areas on federal lands within three years of the bill’s enactment.
“[C]urrent excessive federal government regulation is hindering the exploration and development of geothermal,” Fulcher said in a statement last month.
Lastly, lawmakers will take a look at Rep. Young Kim’s (R-CA) Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act, which aims to speed up geothermal energy development by waiving the federal drilling permit requirement for wells on state and private lands.
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These bills come at a time when energy prices are projected to keep increasing due to rising demand from data centers and artificial intelligence. In the latest update to the Consumer Price Index, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that electricity prices rose by 5.1% over the year ending in September, nearly double the overall inflation rate.
There are several other bills on the docket, including one that would require DOI to hold geothermal lease sales annually rather than every two years. A separate bill would require DOI to establish standard procedures and guidelines for efficient and environmentally responsible geothermal leasing and permitting. Another bill would allow the Bureau of Land Management to charge geothermal lease applicants for inspections and monitoring, as well as to review permit applications.
