Advances in Geothermal Power Policy in Five Key Western States

While federal initiative and international initiatives were important to expanding the geothermal power market in 2013, many important developments happened in state legislatures and public utility commissions. Thirteen states collectively passed nearly two dozen pieces of geothermal power, heating, and direct-use legislation. This article reviews activity in five Western states with the potential to be significant geothermal power markets producing at least several hundred megawatts of geothermal power.