Bloomberg News
By Renata Carlos Daou
Support from the Trump administration, rising energy demand and cheaper drilling methods are boosting lease prices of US public land for geothermal development.
For the first time in years, the US federal government has leased every parcel of public land it has opened for geothermal development – and at record prices.
Average prices for public land leases for geothermal energy development soared by 282% this year to \$127 per acre, driven by growing energy demand from data centers and President Donald Trump’s administration embracing the energy source. The record prices are a major step-up from \$33 per-acre average last year, according to data from the US Bureau of Land Management, the agency that conducts the auctions.
Geothermal companies tap the Earth’s heat to generate power. While it currently generates a small share of all US electricity, a wave of new technologies is opening the door for geothermal to play a bigger role, as is policy support.
“With the current administration, I think the focus is very much on energy security, energy reliability and energy independence,” said Koenraad Beckers, geothermal energy lead at ResFrac, a hydraulic fracturing software designer. “Geothermal checks all those boxes.”