Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
CEDAR CITY — Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy and her colleagues on the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Resources on Monday held a hearing to examine the barriers to developing geothermal energy on federally managed lands.
The hearing comes on the heels of Maloy introducing legislation like the GEO Act,STEAM Act and the FREE Act to streamline geothermal permitting in Utah.
Maloy said that despite the potential of geothermal, it has faced regulatory delays, permitting hurdles and a lack of investment "that doesn't match the scale of the opportunity."
"Geothermal is reliable and affordable. Unlike intermittent sources, geothermal delivers steady, 24/7 baseload power," Maloy said. "At a time when our electric grid is under stress, and global energy markets are incredibly unstable, we need dependable energy sources."
Before the hearing, the subcommittee members toured the site of Texas-based Fervo Energy's next-generation geothermal energy project in Beaver County. It's set to deliver 400 megawatts of 24/7 carbon-free electricity and is the world's largest next-generation geothermal project.
Despite growing bipartisan support for removing barriers to geothermal competition, Maloy said the energy source still faces challenges.
"Complex and outdated permitting processes slow down projects and create uncertainty for developers. Even when the geology is ideal, it can take years to get a green light to drill. In states like Utah, where so much promising geothermal potential lies beneath federally managed lands, the permitting backlog is especially problematic," Maloy said.
The federal government manages 37.4 million acres, roughly 68%, of the land in Utah. Of that land, the Bureau of Land Management oversees about 22.8 million acres.
"Developers are forced to navigate the maze of duplicative reviews, unclear timelines and inconsistent agency coordination. This bureaucratic tangle discourages investment and leaves too many high-potential projects stuck in limbo," Maloy said.
To address this, Maloy has introduced the GEO Act, which would expedite the approval process for geothermal projects by establishing a deadline for the Department of the Interior to process applications related to geothermal leases.
This bill looks to expand the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to require the Department of the Interior to process applications for a geothermal drilling permit or other authorization under a valid existing geothermal lease within 60 days.
But not everyone is as eager to open Utah's public lands.
Prior to Monday's hearing, between 40 and 50 people from groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Conserve Southwest Utah and the Sierra Club gathered to oppose what they call Maloy's "public lands sell-off" amendment that was introduced last week.
The amendment, which was introduced during a different House Natural Resources Committee hearing considering the FY25 Budget Reconciliation Bill, would result in the sell-off of about 11,500 acres of BLM land in southwestern Utah, including parcels in St. George and Washington and Beaver counties.
"Rep. Maloy is hell-bent on selling off and privatizing public lands — attempting to do so in the dark of night, hoping her actions wouldn't be noticed. She was dead wrong," said Travis Hammill, Washington, D.C., director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. "This plan was cooked up behind closed doors, and Utahns and Americans aren't going to let her get away with this. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, our members, and our partners are making certain that in the light of day, her actions will be seen for what they truly are: a sell-off of public lands to pay for billionaire tax cuts. Shame on her."
The amendment passed 23-18 and will now be considered by the full House of Representatives.
"Rep. Maloy's amendment is proposing to sell those lands to fund the president's tax cut initiative. So simply an inappropriate thing to be doing with our federal public lands," said Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's legal director. "These are lands that Utahns know and love."
Bloch said some of the land identified in Maloy's amendment are immediately adjacent to Zion National Park, land inside the Beaver Dam Wash and Red Cliffs Canyon National Conservation Areas and land inside the Santa Clara River Reserve.
Bloch said the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and other organizations saw Monday's hearing as an opportunity to express their frustration and displeasure with what Maloy is "proposing with regard to the sale of federal lands."
"We think that Rep. Malloy needs to hear from locals who oppose that effort and who don't want to see federal lands sold off to pay for tax cuts," Bloch said.
