GEA Hosts Geothermal Energy Finance Forum 2012 in San Francisco

“California is hands down the world leader in geothermal, boasting more than 40 percent of the renewable energy mix in the state, making San Francisco the ideal setting for this important meeting that will take this industry to the next level of development,” said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell. “The geothermal industry has the ability to provide a significant portion of baseload energy to U.S. households. Megawatt for megawatt, geothermal employs four times as many Americans as natural gas, and the industry is creating thousands of jobs.”  

The program will feature discussions with geothermal leaders including Karen Douglas, Commissioner, California Energy Commission; Dan Nastou, Power and Infrastructure, John Hancock Financial Services; John Marciano, Chadbourne & Parke LLP; Rick Rodgers, Managing Director and CEO, Montgomery Street Financial; Mark Taylor, Lead Analyst, CCS & Geothermal, Bloomberg New Energy Finance; Shinji Yamamoto, Chief Investment Officer, IFC; CJ Arrigo, Advisor, Glacier; David Watson, Hudson Ranch I, EnergySource; Jonathan Weisgall, Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affaris, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company; Kent Burton, National Environmental Strategies; Jonathan Zurkoff, VP of Finance, U.S. Geothermal; Louis Capuano Jr, Chairman of the Board, ThermaSource; Subir Sanyal, President and Manager of Reservoir Engineering, GeothermEx; Anders Kruss, Alterra Power Corp.; Craig Mataczynski, CEO, Gradient Resources; Lenny Hochschild, Managing Director, Evolution Markets, Inc.; and more.

The United States is the world leader in geothermal generation, with approximately 3,100 MW online. A new map from Southern Methodist University's Geothermal Lab, created with help from a grant from Google's philanthropic arm Google.org, estimates the U.S. could potentially generate nearly three million megawatts using the Earth's heat, or about ten times the installed capacity of coal power. Since 2005, geothermal power projects have expanded from four states into 15 states from the Pacific to the Gulf Coast. While the number of states with geothermal installed capacity and projects in development is significant, the reach of the geothermal industry is even more extensive. A total of 43 states have companies involved in geothermal development operations.

In addition to its large potential capacity, geothermal energy offers advantages over other forms of energy. It is ideally suited to provide baseload power that intermittent resources cannot provide. Additionally, when compared to other forms of baseload thermal generation, geothermal offers major advantages in fuel price stability, since it does not require a fuel supply, significantly reduced air emissions, and a smaller land-use footprint per installed MW.

To register for the event, please visit: http://geo-energy.org/events/finance_forum_2012.aspx. Discounted registration is available through December 23^rd. Significant discounts for GEA Members and Students are available.

For more information or to receive media credentials, please contact Shawna Seldon, 212 255 7541 or Shawna@rosengrouppr.com.

About the Geothermal Energy Association:

The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) is a trade association composed of U.S. companies who support the expanded use of geothermal energy and are developing geothermal Resources worldwide for electrical power generation and direct-heat uses.  GEA advocates for public policies that will promote the development and utilization of geothermal Resources, provides a forum for the industry to discuss issues and problems, encourages research and development to improve geothermal technologies, presents industry views to governmental organizations, provides assistance for the export of geothermal goods and services, compiles statistical data about the geothermal industry, and conducts education and outreach projects. For more information, please visit http://www.geo-energy.org/.  Check out GEA’s YouTube Channel.  Follow GEA on Twitter.  Become a fan on Facebook.