Developers introduce Blandford Station geothermal exploration; company says single exploration well will guide future plans

Renewal Energy (presenting as Vervoe Energy/Blanford Station) representatives told the Millard County Commission they plan an initial exploration phase in Millard County and expect to drill a single exploration well on state land by the end of the year. Company leaders said the work is intended to determine reservoir temperature and subsurface characteristics before any larger project is proposed.

Sarah Jewett, vice president of strategy, described the company’s Beaver County project (Cape Station) as background: a multi‑phase geothermal development that has already won federal permitting and commercial offtake agreements and is drilling and commissioning power plants. Jewett said the Millard effort is intentionally limited to exploration so the company can “build the test project to ensure the technology worked before we went and got into big fundraising for a greenfield development.”

Brandon Law (head of land, environmental and permitting) and Rahul (permitting lead) said the planned exploration would involve one well per the current plan, drilled to deep targets (company representatives said their approach typically drills to roughly 8,500 feet and can encounter reservoir temperatures of several hundred degrees Fahrenheit). Jewett and others emphasized they will operate a closed loop system that reinjects 100% of the production fluid and will use air‑cooled systems rather than evaporative cooling to limit water consumption.

Company representatives said the Beaver County work has used local contractors and created local economic activity; they reported awarding millions in contracts to Utah‑based firms and hiring local employees. They said their approach in Millard County would follow the same local contracting ethos during exploration and that no large construction asks are before the commission at this time.

Commissioners and others asked technical questions about transmission capacity, permitting on federal and state lands, likely workforce sizes during exploration and operations, and how resource productivity will be assessed. The company said transmission capacity is a statewide planning issue and that, for example, Cape Station’s later expansion may be capped by available transmission unless additional projects proceed.

Renewal/Vervoe asked only for a formal introduction; there were no land‑use or resource approvals requested at the meeting. Commissioners welcomed the introduction and said they expect further on‑record applications if exploration results point toward a larger utility‑scale development.