Geothermal Resource Leasing and Geothermal Resources Unit Agreements

Source: JOIN IEA/IRENA Policy and Measures Database
Last updated: 15 May 2014

The geothermal energy programmes encourage geothermal energy development on federal lands by requiring more competitive leasing, offering simplified royalty calculations, and sharing USD 4 million in current royalties with counties where production occurs. In 2008, the Bureau of Land Management released the stakeholder driven Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) streamlining leasing in 11 Western states. The BLM presently manages 530 geothermal leases, with 58 leases in producing status generating about 1,275 megawatts of installed geothermal energy on public lands. This amounts to about 50 percent of U.S. geothermal energy capacity.

Want to know more about this policy ? Learn more