About GeoPowering the West
In January 2000, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada helped DOE announce and kick-off a new DOE technology outreach effort, known as GeoPowering the West (GPW). This outreach initiative was and is designed as a public-private partnership to help bring geothermal heat and power to millions of homes and businesses across the West.
GPW is now the communication and outreach component of the DOE Geothermal Technologies Program designed and implemented to complement the research and development activities conducted by the Department and its national laboratories. It encompasses efforts on a state and local basis across the western United States to significantly increase the use of geothermal energy over the next decade. GPW partners with organizations from both the private and public sectors that include other federal, state and local agencies, federal, state, local and Tribal officials, utilities, academia, geothermal developers, consumers, and the environmental community.
GPW addresses market sector and institutional barriers to geothermal development. The focus is on highlighting the potential economic, environmental, and energy security benefits from using of our nation's abundant geothermal resources, and providing this information to relevant decision-makers.
Objectives of GPW include broadening and better-coordinating outreach, partnering, and education programs to engage electric utilities, state regulatory agencies, and others, and bring together local and state stakeholders, suppliers, users, and environmental groups. Technical assistance, technology transfer, federal aggregation, and wide-ranging support services including providing project financing and geothermal leasing information to potential developers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses are interests of GPW.
Why GPW?
DOE's Office of Energy and Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has a mission to ensure that Federal programs for clean power are implemented at the regional state and local levels, providing Americans with a stronger economy, healthier environment, and a more secure future. EERE's policy is to work in partnership with U.S. industry to establish geothermal energy as an economically competitive contributor to the U.S. energy supply.
Geothermal resources are valuable national assets that benefit the nation in:
- Energy Supply, by providing a balanced, diverse energy portfolio
- Economics, by capturing and growing domestic and international markets
- Environment, by greatly decreasing the impacts of power production
These are all DOE and EERE goals.