Geo POWER Act

The Geo POWER Act aims to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation geothermal technologies across the United States. Its primary purpose is to overcome high upfront capital costs associated with geothermal exploration and drilling, while also generating public data to de-risk future projects. This initiative seeks to catalyze geothermal demonstration projects and innovation through a system of milestone-based financing, focusing on diverse geologies and regions.

The bill establishes a Milestone-Based Geothermal Demonstration Program to award innovative financing through a competitive process based on the achievement of technical and financial milestones. This program prioritizes projects in regions and geologies with limited or no existing geothermal electricity generation, including on or near Indian land, and those that support the collection and dissemination of data to characterize new resources. It also targets new electricity production facilities with at least 30 megawatts of potential capacity or projects advancing innovative drilling, requiring awards to not less than three different proposals in at least three different states and to three different project sponsors.