This year’s Earth Week theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” focuses on renewable energy, specifically “championing solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, and tidal generated energy.” The early days of the new Administration have seen a flurry of Executive Orders surrounding American energy production (discussed in more detail in our Client Alerts “Recent Executive Orders Affecting the Energy Industry” and “Key Energy and Environmental Takeaways from Trump’s Early Executive Orders.”). As noted in those articles, many of these early actions aim to revitalize and tap into America’s finite energy sources, with focus moving away from renewable energies such as solar and wind. However, two traditional sources of renewable energy have continued to maintain support – geothermal and hydropower.
President Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order directs federal agency heads “to identify those agency actions that impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources – with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources . . . .” The “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” Executive Order, issued the same day, directs federal agency heads to “identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them, as well as all other lawful authorities they may possess, to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including but not limited to, on Federal lands.” The term “energy resources” in this Executive Order is defined as “crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals, as defined by 30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3).” Energy Secretary Chris Wright similarly stated in his first Secretarial Order, “Unleashing the Golden Era of American Energy Dominance,” that the Energy Department’s research and development efforts “will prioritize affordable, reliable, and secure energy technologies, including fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal, and hydropower.”
Geothermal energy is produced through steam from the Earth’s subsurface used to operate turbines. However, this “green” method of energy production also enjoys support from the oil and gas industries due to its use of much of the same well drilling technology. Secretary Wright, in his confirmation hearing, described geothermal technology as “an enormous, abundant energy resource below everyone’s feet.” Geothermal energy production only accounts for less than one percent of the nation’s current energy generation. However, the federal government appears to recognize the opportunity in this space, with its Liftoff Program seeking to expand geothermal production from 2-5 gigawatts today up to 90 gigawatts by 2050. With bipartisan support partly due to its green energy potential, the runway is clear for geothermal technology to take off over the next decade.
Hydropower produces energy by harnessing flowing water, typically through dams and other water reservoirs. Due to its inclusion in the initial round of energy executive orders, hydropower is similarly situated for its own boom through more streamlined permitting processes and removal of federal barriers to project developments. Hydropower remaining in the federal spotlight while other renewable sources such as solar and wind fall out of favor may also result in less competition for tax credits and other federal incentives for new or existing projects.
With the current Administration’s focus on increased domestic energy production to “restore American prosperity,” geothermal and hydropower are positioned to become primary sources of renewable energy production as part of this push.
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