Private capital is flooding into next-generation geothermal. Tech giants are signing long-term power purchase agreements for around-the-clock electricity. Federal lease sales in Utah, Nevada and Idaho are setting revenue records. The market has made its verdict on geothermal energy clear.
The problem? The federal permitting system hasn't caught up.
A new report from ClearPath, A Clear Path for Geothermal Permitting: Cutting Delays, Driving Deployment, documents what's holding this industry back — and offers practical fixes that should appeal to anyone who believes in an "all of the above" energy strategy.
The opportunity is enormous. The U.S. leads the world with roughly 4 gigawatts of installed geothermal capacity, but the Department of Energy estimates next-generation systems could deliver 100 gigawatts by 2050 — roughly equal to the entire U.S. nuclear fleet. McKinsey estimates $900 million in private capital has flowed into next-generation geothermal over the past five years, with more than 780 megawatts of power purchase agreements signed in just the past two.
The demand is real. The technology is ready. So what's the holdup?
More than 90 percent of America's discoverable geothermal resources sit on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. A single geothermal project can trigger up to six separate rounds of environmental review, and DOE's own research found that permitting delays can add five to seven years before a developer can even demonstrate a viable resource. Making matters worse, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 created streamlined permitting for oil and gas exploration — using essentially the same drilling technologies — but didn't extend it to geothermal. Twenty years later, that disparity persists.
Among the ClearPath report's key recommendations:
Require annual geothermal lease sales. Even the current biennial requirement is routinely missed. California — the nation's largest geothermal producer — went nearly a decade without a competitive lease sale.
Expand categorical exclusions. BLM's own data shows all 26 geothermal exploration projects it evaluated resulted in no significant environmental impact — yet more than half wouldn't qualify for the current exclusion due to an arbitrary acreage cap.
Establish a Geothermal Ombudsman and Permitting Task Force to address major inconsistencies across BLM field offices. One parcel offered at a 2023 Utah lease sale was originally nominated in 2008.
Create dedicated permitting funding for geothermal, similar to what already exists for oil and gas, wind and solar.
These are common-sense reforms that level the playing field. The government shouldn't be picking winners in the energy market — but it shouldn't be picking losers, either. BLM currently has 2.2 gigawatts of new geothermal capacity approved or under review, representing a 56 percent increase over today's installed base. That means construction jobs, property tax revenue for rural counties and reliable, domestically produced baseload power.
The market is speaking. It's time for federal permitting to listen.