One of the beauties of my experience in the Wyoming legislature from 1986 to 1996 was that there was a bipartisan effort to resolve issues for Wyomingites. Those issues were neither left nor right, but important for the well-being of Wyoming citizens. A dividing issue right now is fossil fuels. Let’s put aside our emotional reactions and see a solution regarding energy where both parties can agree.
Wyoming is an energy state and we are developing wind and solar projects (Chugwater Energy Project, the Carbon County Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project). A nuclear plant is being constructed near Kemmerer. We need to remain an energy state and therefore must plan not only for today, but also for our grandchildren and great grandchildren. Wyoming is missing the most important source of energy we have – energy is everywhere beneath our feet – that is “next generational geothermal” energy.
Several states have adopted ways to “streamline the development of geothermal energy” Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico have launched the Mountain West Geothermal Consortium to expand development of geothermal energy. Wyoming should join this group and Congress must take steps to ensure Wyoming becomes part of this forward-thinking group as “the energy state.”
Wyoming and other states will take technologies which oil and gas have developed over 100 years at a cost of trillions of dollars and eventually use oil and gas drillers, equipment and technologies to drill for heat. According to the US Dept of Energy, geothermal energy can benefit from Wyoming’s oil and gas equipment and wells. In fact, the equipment which carried oil and gas can be used to release geothermal energy by bringing up the super-hot water to the surface where it drives turbines to produce electricity. The International Energy Agency estimates that oil and gas expertise is relevant to more than three-quarters of next-generation geothermal investment. Geothermal can be the world’s energy resource, and Wyoming has much of the expertise to release it.
Geothermal energy comes from reservoirs of hot water that exist from a few feet down to several miles deep. Even though 75% is located in the West, Iceland and California have developed geothermal energy in shallow water. The amount of geothermal energy available is 50,000 times more energy than all the oil and gas in the world. Next-generation geothermal energy is reliable power which can be built over coal plants, using oil and gas technology and is a carbon-free renewable resource (99% less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels).
Investment in the sector has grown a hundredfold in seven years from $22 million in 2018 to $2.2 billion in 2025. In Utah, pilot projects are delivering electricity, and 500 MW will come online this year. Taking advantage of oil and gas development for greater energy potential in Wyoming is a giant step. Geothermal is expensive, but that is why Wyoming should join with other states working together to continue as an energy state for our kids and the world.