Legislative Hearing on the following bills: • H.R. 301 (Rep. Maloy), “Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act” or the “GEO Act” • H.R. 398 (Rep. Ocasio-Cortez), “Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act of 2025” • H.R. 1077 (Rep. Lee), “Streamlining Thermal Energy through Advanced Mechanisms Act” or the “STEAM Act” • H.R. 1687 (Rep. Fulcher), “Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act” or the “CLEAN Act” • H.R. 5576 (Rep. Fulcher), “Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act” • H.R. 5587 (Rep. Kim), “Harnessing Energy At Thermal Sources Act” or the “HEATS Act” • H.R. 5617 (Rep. Ansari), “Geothermal Gold Book Development Act” • H.R. 5631 (Rep. Hurd), “Geothermal Ombudsman for National Deployment and Optimal Reviews Act” • H.R. 5638 (Rep. Kennedy of UT), “Geothermal Royalty Reform Act”
2025-12-16
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The Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals Resources will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recess of the subcommittee at any time. Under Committee Rule 4F, any oral opening statements at hearings are limited to the chairmen and the ranking minority member. I ask unanimous consent that the gentlewoman from Nevada, Ms. Lee, be allowed to participate in today's hearing, the gentlewoman from Utah, Ms. Beloy, be allowed to participate in today's hearing, and the gentleman from Utah, Dr. Kennedy, be allowed to participate in today's hearing. Without objection, so ordered.
I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Thank you all for being here today to discuss this important bipartisan slate of legislation. As you know, the United States has reached a critical juncture. In real time, we are witnessing unprecedented skyrocketing energy demand, and in the coming years, this demand is only expected to grow. As we compete against China to win the AI arms race and reshore manufacturing, we must move quickly to bring gigawatts of new reliable power online. As we saw earlier this year, when we visited Fervo Energy's Cape Station project and held a corresponding field hearing in Utah, baseload geothermal power has incredible potential to help meet our growing energy needs. In fact, according to a recent study from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Great Basin region alone hosts approximately 135 gigawatts of geothermal potential. Unfortunately, cumbersome leasing and permitting practices on federal lands have prolonged project timelines and increased costs for geothermal developers. As we've seen with other forms of energy operating on public lands, the permitting process for geothermal is mirrored by duplicative requirements and lengthy regulatory delays. Federal geothermal projects must complete up to six stages of National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, review throughout the development process. This can take up to 10 years, and that doesn't include endless cycles of frivolous litigation. The bills we have before us today will help geothermal power to scale up and reach its full potential. First, H.R.
301, the Geothermal Energy Opportunity Act, or the GEO Act, introduced by Representative Malloy, simply requires the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, to do their job by continuing to process geothermal permits and authorizations unless a federal court says otherwise. During the previous administration, BLM stopped processing permits and authorizations for geothermal and oil and gas projects based solely on the threat of litigation. This delaying tactic is oftentimes meant to appease radical special interest groups who wish to stop all energy development on federal lands.
1687, the Committing Leases for Energy Access Now Act, or the CLEAN Act, introduced by Representative Fulcher, is a bill that is essential to bolstering geothermal energy production. It would require the BLM to hold annual lease sales rather than every other year. And most importantly, it imposes deadlines to ensure the BLM and Department of the Interior to ensure these projects actually get online. This past October, BLM held a lease sale in Nevada that brought in a record setting $9.4 million in bids. Given that a vast majority of our geothermal resources are under federal lands, along with the increased interest in leasing these areas, it's imperative to increase the frequency of lease sales.
5576, the Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act, also introduced by Representative Fulcher, would streamline the permitting process for geothermal exploration wells that have a footprint of less than eight acres. In addition, it would also require the Department of the Interior to designate geothermal leasing priorities areas on federal lands.
5587, the Harnessing Energy Act Thermal Sources Act, or the HEAT Act, introduced by Representative Kim, is a common sense piece of legislation that would alleviate the BLM from having to permit geothermal wells on state and private lands where the federal government holds an ownership interest of less than 50 percent of the geothermal estate. HR 5617, the Geothermal Gold Book Development Act, introduced by Ranking Member Ansari, would provide guidance to agency staff by requiring BLM to publish best practices for geothermal leasing and permitting.
and Optimal Reviews Act introduced by Representative Hurd from Colorado would help to reduce permitting timelines and build key institutional expertise across BLM field offices. The bill would appoint the geothermal ombudsman from within BLM tasked with coordinating between offices and assisting expert personnel from across DOI to assist with approvals as part of a newly formed geothermal permitting task force.
These bills are an important step towards ending regulatory inefficiencies unleashing geothermal energy on federal lands. If enacted, geothermal developers will benefit from greater certainty needed to spur investment in research, development, exploration, and production. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on these important bills and I will now yield to the ranking member for her opening statement, Representative Ansari. Thank you, Chair Stauber. Good morning, everyone, and thank you to our witnesses for joining us here today.
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