On July 22, the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) will explore the future of utility-scale geothermal power at an industry conference held in Las Vegas. With geothermal production expanding to 15 states, many new utilities, coops and public utility districts are considering geothermal for the first time. This session brings together utilities, coops, and PUDs familiar with geothermal to discuss how they have achieved success with geothermal developers and companies. Sessions will focus on approaches and challenges for utility-scale projects in the U.S., federal and state support for utilities and renewables, risk management, transmission issues, and more.

According to GEA’s recent Update on Geothermal Power Production and Development, Nevada is already a leader in geothermal power production with 86 geothermal projects in development that together represent a potential of up to 3686.4 MW.

“The growth of the geothermal industry in Nevada has been a sparkling example of how developers can harness this resource at a large scale and make it an extremely attractive option for utilities,” said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell. “As the only baseload source of renewable power, geothermal is the perfect option for utilities interested in green power.”

With the abundant geothermal resource that Nevada boasts, the state has the opportunity to build an even more extensive geothermal power portfolio. Strong state and national renewable electricity standards continue to push forward these developments and Nevada could, with forward-thinking leadership, be the first in the nation powered 100% by renewable energy.

“Eleven of the projects under development in Nevada were ARRA funded. With incentives like those, as well as extending the geothermal tax-grants and efforts to ensure transmission networks and policies support new geothermal development, we can keep pushing this state and this nation to build the green economy we need,” said Gawell.

For more information, please contact Garret Drexler at garret@rosengrouppr.com or 646-695-7042.