Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Geothermal supporters believe their moment in the sun has arrived with the incoming Trump administration and GOP control of Congress.
Why it matters: Tapping Earth's heat can be a 24/7 zero-carbon electricity source. It's won fans like Google and Jennifer Granholm.
- But for decades it's taken a back seat to oil and gas, nuclear, hydrogen, wind, and solar.
The big picture: While President-elect Trump has widely targeted President Biden's climate initiatives, his top energy advisers may be inclined to not only spare geothermal but also bolster its relatively meager aid.
- Chris Wright, Trump's DOE nominee, has invested his oil company in geothermal, and Doug Burgum, his pick for Interior and to lead a National Energy Council, hails from a state with geothermal interests.
Sen. Mike Lee, incoming chair of Energy and Natural Resources, supports legislation that puts geothermal on an equal footing with oil and gas.
- Utah is "the ideal location to develop this clean, firm energy source," Lee said in a statement to Axios.
- "I look forward to continuing the progress [expected Ranking Member] Senator Heinrich and I have made on geothermal permitting reform on the ENR committee in the coming Congress."
What they're saying: It's "a first for the geothermal industry" to have such high-level officials with geothermal backgrounds, said Bryant Jones, executive director of Geothermal Rising.
- That's in part because oil and gas giants view geothermal development as an opportunity for its workforce, technology and assets, he said.
- The trade group counts Halliburton, Baker Hughes, and Jacobs as "renewable energy enthusiast" members.
Zoom in: Geothermal innovations could expand the map beyond small-scale plants in Western states that have hot rocks near the surface.
- Fervo Energy — partnering with the DOE in Utah and Google in Nevada — is asking lawmakers to bump up appropriations and lower permitting barriers.
- Fervo is "talking to Congress about how it is that we deliver on a lot of the promises that President-elect Trump made in his campaign about lowering energy prices and increasing energy supply," said Ben Serrurier, Fervo's government affairs and policy manager.
- Wright has already heard the pitch: His oil company announced a $10 million investment in Fervo.
- Wright "understands geothermal energy development as well as any nominee for secretary of energy probably has," Serrurier said.
Fervo also met this month with Rep. John Curtis of Utah — who's moving to the Senate and hopes to get a spot on EPW — to share updates on a project that could scale to the capacity of two nuclear reactors.
- "They're rolling, and there's just huge potential there," Curtis told Axios in the speaker's lobby. "What's not to like about geothermal?"
What we're watching: Whether House-approved geothermal permitting and leasing bills clear the Senate by the end of the year.
- Also whether GOP-led reconciliation goals next session will bump up geothermal leasing on federal land.
