Position Paper
Geothermal Energy Development in Utah (pdf)
April 2005

Meetings & Workshops
SW Utah's Geothermal Potential, 04/22-23/08
Electricity Generation, 03/13-14/07
Direct Use & Heat Pumps, 03/22-23/06
Meeting, 10/12/05
Geothermal Power Generation, 08/17/05
Meeting, 02/24/05
Exploring Utah Geothermal Opportunities, 01/20/2004

The Utah Geothermal Working Group (UGWG) is an organization comprised of representatives from federal, state, and local governments; utilities; renewable energy advocates; geothermal industry; environmental organizations; landowners; and other entities interested in development of geothermal energy in Utah.

The UGWG’s mission is to promote innovative development and effective utilization of Utah’s geothermal resources for direct use, power generation, and cascading uses. The primary emphasis is promotion of direct-use applications and small-scale geothermal power projects to stimulate rural economic development.

In 2003, the Utah Geological Survey and Utah Energy Office convened two meetings (March 4 and September 5) of the UGWG.

In March, 32 people attended the initial organizing meeting and presentations were made on current project activities, Utah HB-89 Sales Tax Incentive, Pacificorp’s IRP process, SEP geothermal grant information, and the 2002 Farm Bill.

In addition to activity updates, the September program included overviews of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Program (Roy Mink), Bureau of Land Management’s minerals/geothermal program, Utah Division of Water Rights geothermal resource conservation regulations, the National Geothermal Collaborative, and marketing efforts for geothermal energy.

In January 2004 the UGWG, along with the National Geothermal Collaborative and the Geothermal Resources Council, co-sponsored a workshop titled “Exploring Utah Geothermal Opportunities – Development and Financing.”

This workshop focused on (1) using geothermal in agriculture development and industrial processing (direct-use opportunities), and (2) incentives to reduce risk/facilitate development for geothermal projects. The workshop included 17 presentations from subject experts in geothermal development, economics, and financing.

The UGWG held a meeting in February 2005. The meeting included GeoPowering the West activity and legislative updates, a description of projects at Crystal (Bluffdale) hot springs, a new geophysical technique for ground-water mapping, interaction with the new leadership of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, and development of an action plan for UGWG. One product of this meeting has been the creation of a working group position paper on geothermal development in Utah.